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Shamar Joseph was in tears towards the end of Day 3. He knew he would not be able to add valuable runs like he did on his Test debut in Adelaide. A fast Mitchell Starc yorker was to be blamed for this. It hit Joseph flush on the toe and forced him to retire out. West Indies were bowled out for 193. Australia’s target to sweep the series was 216. It was not a bad fourth innings total to defend, especially in a Day/Night Test. But not when your best bowler is almost certain not to bowl a single over.
Shamar Joseph, who made an impressive debut in the first Test after playing just five first-class matches, was easily the best Caribbean bowler on display in this tour. His unavailability would have been half the battle won for Australia.
Joseph was taken for scans and thankfully, there was no fracture detected. But even then, there was no chance of him bowling at full tilt on Sunday. “I wasn’t even going to come to the ground today. But the doctor did something to my toe. I don’t know what he did. But it worked,” Joseph told the host broadcasters on Sunday.
It worked wonders. Joseph was not only back on the field but was also the architect of one of West Indies’ most memorable Test wins in three decades. The right-arm pacer returned with figures of 7/68 in 11.5 overs to bowl Australia out for 207. It was a display of hostile fast bowling, where his pace breached the 150 kmph mark multiple times. It was a story of courage, grit, determination and belief.
“I was in pain. But I told my captain that I will bowl till the Australian wicket falls no matter how much my toe hurts,” he said. His eyes, his words, his sweat-soaked shirt.., everything narrated a story, one that would become a part of the folklore of West Indies cricket.
It was their first Test victory in Australia since 1997. This was also the first time they avoided a series defeat in Australia in close to 30 years. And all this took place at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia’s fortress in this format. This was only their second in 36 years.
Australia had resumed the day at 60/2 with Steve Smith, who carried his bat for a superb 91 not out, and Cameron Green looking comfortable against Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph. The match, however, turned on its head when Shamar Joseph came into the attack after 45 minutes.
He dismissed Green when the Australian No.4 chopped on, then bowled Travis Head with a beautiful yorker, Head’s second first-ball duck of the match.
Australia, cruising at 113-2, were suddenly 113-4, although Smith looked unperturbed as he reached his half-century.
However, Joseph struck again when Mitchell Marsh edged to Alick Athanaze at third slip and, although the ball popped out of Athanaze’s hands, it went straight to Justin Greaves to leave Australia 132-5, 84 runs from victory.
Alex Carey was next to go, clean bowled by a 145 km/h thunderbolt that crashed into off stump, with Australia 136-6.
Mitchell Starc decided the best path to victory was to attack and smashed 21 runs from just 14 balls before trying one big hit too many and holing out to Kevin Sinclair in the covers.
Cummins was next to go, getting an edge to a diving Joshua Da Silva behind the stumps.
After the break, Alzarri Joseph claimed Nathan Lyon caught behind before Shamar Joseph wrapped up the innings when he beat Josh Hazlewood for pace and bowled him through the gate.
Shamar Joseph ended the series with 13 wickets. The 24-year-old put Baracara, a small village in Guayana, on the map of world cricket. Thousands of kilometres away from the Gabba, the news reached Hyderabad where Inda were playing another nail-biting Test against England. Dinesh Karthik in the commentary box revealed that Shamar Joseph’s village did not have an internet connection till 2018.
The way that Shamar Joseph has started his Test career, the small population in his village can dream of much more than broadband connections.
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