Superb Smith, gutsy Green 50s give Aussies the edge, but late Windies fightback keeps Test alive

Vital half-centuries from Steve Smith and Cameron Green have put Australia’s noses in front on a rain-interrupted third day in Grenada, but three late strikes from the West Indies have given the hosts a puncher’s chance of keeping the Frank Worrell Trophy alive.

The visitors reached stumps at 7/221, with Alex Carey’s menacing start, finishing unbeaten on 26 off just 27 balls, taking the Australian lead past 250 and threatening at yet another priceless contribution to push the advantage towards 300 and beyond on Day 4.

Coming into the second Test with major question marks over both his Test future and his spot at No.3 in the batting order, Green’s measured 52, during which the all-rounder displayed vastly improved judgement outside off stump, has shored up his place in the team and given selectors hope he can become Australia’s next long-term first drop.

However, he was visibly frustrated after dragging Shamar Joseph onto his stumps the very ball after bringing up the milestone, putting paid to hopes of a third Test century having done all the hard work to get himself set.

In partnership with the masterful Smith, who defied an uneven pitch featuring frequent low bounce and regular momentum-interrupting rain delays to record a chanceless, boundary-laden 71, the pair’s 97-run stand put the tourists in control after the loss of nightwatchman Nathan Lyon early in the day left them effectively 3/61.

Batting was seldom easy, with Green’s keenness to shoulder arms to anything in the channel outside off after a series of edges into the cordon in recent matches resulting in several hair-raisingly tight leaves, while the injured finger that ruled Smith out of the first Test of the series copped a peppering, including from his very first ball facing Alzarri Joseph.

However, just when it seemed as if the Windies would be batted out of the match, the hosts struck back with a trio of final-session wickets to keep the match alive, with all-rounder Justin Greaves trapping Smith in front and following an over later to entice an edge from Beau Webster to remove the troublesome all-rounder for just 2.

When Shamar Joseph returned for one last spell late in the day and castled Travis Head (39) with a ball that kept low, the Windies were jubilant – though that and several other balls throughout the day will have given Australia plenty of confidence that their lead may already be enough on a pitch sure to only get worse from here.

Speaking after play, Smith opened up on the tweaks he made to his famously idiosyncratic batting stance in order to combat the uneven bounce.

“It was obviously a tricky surface, a little bit up and down, a little bit of seam movement,” he told ESPN.

“For me, this innings, I decided to bat on middle [stump], stay a bit more still, try and negate LBW as much as possible with the ball shooting a little bit low.

“I triedto use my full face as much as possible, and I thought I did that really well, and then anything loose, just try and cash in on it.

“It was a nice partnership with ‘Greeny’ – I thought he played really nicely and set us up for the rest of the innings.”

Smith was also quick to downplay concerns over his finger, saying the odd ball to the hands is an occupational hazard on this pitch.

“My first ball actually hit me straight on the finger, so it wasn’t ideal, but it feels alright,” he said.

“It’s that kind of wicket, some can just shoot up a little bit, you might have to take a few on the hands at stages. It’s all good.

“I don’t think the wicket’s going to get any better to bat, there’ll probably be a few more tricks … hopefully we can get up somewhere around 300 [lead], put a 3 in front of it would be nice, and then we’ll see how we go.”

The veteran’s innings was the clear highlight of the day; having fallen early to a rare reckless shot on Day 1, Smith, as he did during the World Test Championship final, appeared at times to be batting on a different pitch to everyone else.

Imperious from the moment he met Shamar Joseph’s first spell of the day with consecutive boundaries, the first a crunching straight drive and the second a textbook drive through the covers, the hosts looked lost for ideas on how to dismiss him.

The closest they came was a desperate LBW shout to the last ball of lunch to a ball that shot lower than his attempted nurdle to leg, though captain Roston Chase declined to review, with ball-tracker vindicating that decision by finding the ball would have cleared the stumps.

With Green looking more confident with every passing over, beginning to dispatch anything wide amid his watchful resistance, the partnership mounted, even with the odd low shooter keeping both on their toes.

Reaching a ninth half-century with his best shot yet, a glorious straight drive past Shamar, Green looked set to cash in on his first start since returning to the Test team; but as if to prove that no batter is truly in on this pitch, he’d inside edge an attempted cut back onto his own stumps the very next ball.

Undeterred by the wicket, Head blasted a wayward Joseph to the cover boundary for four first ball, and together with Smith, continued to up the tempo.

Chase’s decision to turn to his own off-spin in an attempt to either break the stand or slow the innings was met with disdain, Smith crashing a six over long off as the lead swelled towards 200.

Leading by 208 at tea, a tired Windies attack seemed ripe for the picking in the final session; but as they have throughout this series, the hosts refused to yield.

With keeper Shai Hope brought up to keep Smith confined to his crease, it was Greaves’ canny medium-pace that landed the decisive blow, a nip-backer trapping the Australian star LBW with DRS confirming he had been struck fractionally inside the line.

When Webster, in a rare Test failure, edged the same bowler to Chase at wide third slip an over later, Australia were 6/181, with hopes rekindled that the hosts could spark another late collapse and only need to chase 250.

As in the first innings, though, Carey had something to say about that: benefitting from soft hands as an outside edge shot low through the cordon for four, the wicketkeeper continued to maintain Australia’s steady tempo late in the day with another vital contribution.

With first Head, and then Cummins after Shamar shot through his South Australian teammate, Carey was as fluent as ever, with an early call of stumps due to bad light coming as relief for the Windies given his excellent form.

For the hosts, the chase is still within reach, though given their frail batting and the treacherous conditions is already nearing insurmountable territory; Australia, meanwhile, will know that even 50 extra runs could take this Test, and the series, out of reach.