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Australia v West Indies, 1st Test, Brisbane, 3rd day

Ponting and Hayden flay West Indies

The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran

November 5, 2005

Ricky Ponting declared on Australia's overnight total of 2 for 283 to give West Indies a near impossible chase of 509 for a first-Test victory at the Gabba. Heavy rain hit Brisbane overnight but play started on time with the home side in total control

Stumps day 3 Australia 2 for 283 (Hayden 118, Ponting 104*) and 435 lead West Indies 210 (Smith 88, Warne 5-48, McGrath 4-72) by 508 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Ricky Ponting always looked at ease as he made his 25th Test century © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting's 25th Test century - going past Greg Chappell and Vivian Richards on the all-time list - and a punishing hundred from Matthew Hayden pushed West Indies several steps closer to a devastating defeat as Australia ended the third day of the Gabba Test 508 runs ahead, with eight second-innings wickets still intact.

Hayden, the local hero who was nearly run out by a throw from short cover in the frantic sprint to complete a 140-ball century, and Ponting added 187 as the West Indian challenge was chewed up and spat out. And if an array of booming strokes wasn't punishment enough, West Indies contributed to their downfall with wretched fielding and catching that would have left Bennett King - the former Queensland coach back on home turf - as cold as the beer being gulped down in the stands.

After Shane Warne had wasted little time in snipping the West Indian tail, Hayden and Ponting carried on where they left off in the first innings. Hayden, who had scored centuries in his previous two Tests at The Oval and the SCG to end a lengthy period of drought, was in imperious touch, driving and pulling with the panache and brute power of old. Jermaine Lawson, who was punched through the off side thrice just before tea, was given special attention and had the mortification of seeing Marlon Samuels put down a straightforward chance at gully when Hayden had made 54.

That gaffe had come soon after Lawson induced Ponting, then on 17, to edge one to second slip only to discover that his foot had overstepped the popping crease. Given that Corey Collymore had made a pig's ear of a mistimed hook from Michael Hussey earlier in the afternoon, it was hardly the sort of on-field discipline and performance required to transform a likely rout into a contest.

Chances apart, both Hayden and Ponting rotated the strike often, running the singles that put pressure on an embattled side, and treated the loose balls with the disdain top-class batsmen have for them. Only Gayle, who got turn and bounce from a height, was spared a lashing as Australia set about posting a target that would be well beyond the scope of Caribbean ambition.

Shane Warne was too much for the West Indian tail to handle © Getty Images

Hayden smacked both Samuels and Gayle for sixes down the ground, and Ponting enjoyed his best purple patch when creaming the struggling Collymore for three consecutive fours as the lead went well beyond the 418 that West Indies had chased for a famous victory in Antigua 30 months ago. Hayden eventually holed out, going for the expansive shot, but with the exception of another failure from Hussey, it had been as emphatic a batting display as one could hope for on a deteriorating pitch.

The quest for victory inside four days had been given early impetus by Warne, who picked up all four wickets to fall in the morning to finish with superb figures of 5 for 48 from 28 overs. Only Denesh Ramdin, composed and feisty, defied the odds with some brave shots, but it was nowhere near enough to cross the follow-on target of 236.

After Daren Powell nicked one behind soon after play resumed, Fidel Edwards and Ramdin frustrated the Australians. Ramdin took two fours from a McGrath over, including a gorgeous on-drive, while Edwards used up liberal amounts of luck and every bit of equipment at his disposal in keeping Warne at bay.

His resistance lasted 26 balls, before an extravagant heave at a flighted googly, and Warne then ensured that Collymore and Lawson preserved their hapless-rabbit reputations. At the other end, Ramdin - who had driven Lee down to the sightscreen with a flourish - could only watch and look away. And as the afternoon wore on, Hayden and Ponting made certain that the sinking feeling only intensified.

How they were out

West Indies

Daren Powell c Gilchrist b Warne 4 (7 for 187)
Thick edge behind from an attempted cut

Fidel Edwards b Warne 2 (8 for 204)
Tossed-up googly knocks back leg stump

Corey Collymore c Clarke b Warne 0 (9 for 210)
Leading edge flies straight to second slip

Jermaine Lawson lbw Warne 0 (210 all out)
Rapped in front by the flipper

Australia

Michael Hussey c Collymore b Gayle 29 (1 for 71)
Pulled to the man stationed at midwicket

Matthew Hayden c Sarwan b Gayle 118 (2 for 258)
Tossed up into the rough from round the wicket, and tempted into the big drive. Edged to slip.

Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo