Australia vs West Indies Day 3 live: Adelaide furious at Test snub

Australia are set to win their fourth Test of the summer early on Friday after Travis Head rescued his side once again with a century when they needed it most in a lowscoring affair.

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Australia posted a lead of 95 of before Josh Hazlewood tore through the Windies’ top order to snuff out any hope of an upset.

The West Indies resume at 6/73 trailing by 22 runs. The Test could be over before lunch.

Follow below for live updates.

11.12am – Hazlewood gets five

Josh Hazlewood has clinched a five-wicket haul, clean bowling Gudakesh Motie to take his figures to 5/21.

Can the Windies make Australia bat again?

11.10am – Steve Smith sweating

Mitchell Starc has claimed two early wickets to have the West Indies 8/94 and trailing by one run, meaning Australia and new opener Steve Smith could have to bat again.

Starc had Alzarri Joseph caught behind for 16.

Brett Lee said on Fox Cricket: “How do you think Steve Smith is feeling right now?”

10.47am – First wicket of the day falls

Wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva is the first man to depart on Friday, playing a pull shot off Mitchell Starc straight to Josh Hazlewood, who took a simple catch on the boundary.

Australia need just three more wickets to win the Test match.

10.30am – Curator admits pitch sub par

The Test is set to finish in less than two and a half days, largely due to a pitch that has offered plenty for the fast bowlers.

The seam movement off the Adelaide Oval wicket has been tricky for batters, with both top orders collapsing at times.

Speaking on Fox Cricket, Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough said the pitch preparation was the same as previous years but fell short of expectations.

“The biggest difference with this one is the grass variety,” Hough said.

“I put my hand up and say we probably haven’t quite got it perfect.

“We’re trying to find a contest between bat and ball. We want the players to shine. We want all facets to come out. I put my hand up and say we haven’t got this one quite right.

“I don’t think it’s the worst pitch ever to be played on but it’s just that inconsistency. I don’t like inconsistency early on especially on Days 1 and 2. We’ll keep tinkering with it and guarantee it’ll be better next year.”

10.20am – Premier furious at Test snub

The Adelaide Oval has become synonymous with day-night cricket in Australia, so it’s been a surprise that a pink ball Test isn’t being held there this summer.

Instead, Brisbane will host this summer’s lone day-night match at the Gabba in the second and final Test against the West Indies next week.

The scheduling of the Test to start midweek has infuriated punters, especially given the action will be all over before the weekend even starts.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas slammed the decision to take the day night Test away from Adelaide.

Malinauskas told ABC Radio: “The Adelaide Test gets bigger crowds than the SCG Test and here’s Cricket Australia saying, ‘Well look to all those South Australians out there who have treated the game loyally, show up, pay their money — we’re going to relegate your schedule to midweek cricket against a lower opposition because we’re going to take you for granted’.

“I think someone’s got to call that out.”

There is growing competition from states for Tests in the holiday period so crowd figures can be maximised.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said Adelaide was scheduled as a day Test so the Big Bash finals could get clear air in the evening.

“This season, the scheduling has been really super complicated and that’s because of the World Cup, everything is pushed a little bit later,” Hockley told SEN.

“We’ve had to play Test matches throughout the duration of the Big Bash. The reason this (Adelaide Test) is a day game is so we can play the Big Bash finals in the evening.

“The first day of the 5th Test at the Gabba is the day after the Big Bash finals, so the beauty is cricket is on 12 hours a day and there’s been great cricket on every evening.

“That’s what we’ve sat down on, worked with our broadcast partners and I think the interplay between the Test matches and BBL has been great.”

Originally published as Australia vs West Indies Day 3 live: Adelaide furious at Test snub