Australia cruise to historic triple Caribbean triumph

Australia 605-9 dec & 8-1 West Indies 328 and 284 Australia win by nine wickets

Australia got rid of their main threats, Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, within four overs of the start and only plucky resistance from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the 20-year-old debutant Omari Banks delayed their victory in the third Test by nine wickets, 20 minutes before tea on the final day yesterday.

Their third straight Test triumph ­ the first time the feat has been achieved by any touring side in the Carribean ­ clinched the series for the Australians. It also paves the way for a first clean sweep here since the West Indies gained Test status in 1928. The fourth and final match starts in Antigua on Friday.

The West Indies had the scant consolations of avoiding an innings defeat when their last-wicket pair added 19 and the first-ball wicket of Justin Langer when Australia went back in needing eight to win. It gave the fast bowler Jermaine Lawson a rare hat-trick following two wickets with successive balls that ended Australia's first innings.

Forced to follow on 277 runs in arrears when they were dismissed for 328 in their first innings on the fourth morning, the West Indies' only option was to hold on for a draw. They carried some hope of avoiding another embarrassingly heavy defeat when Sarwan and Lara resumed after batting through the final two-and-a-half hours of the previous afternoon while adding 93. But their chances were quickly undermined.

Sarwan, who batted for three hours and 50 minutes on the previous day for 58, was lbw to the leg-spinner Stuart MacGill's first delivery of the day with a ball that was changed before play. Twenty minutes later, Lara suffered the same fate as he played across a ball from Andy Bichel.

It left the left-handed Chanderpaul, in his 65th Test, as the last of the specialist batsmen and he found a willing partner in Banks, the tall off-spinner.

They batted through to lunch but Banks' dismissal for 32 in the fifth over after the interval, to a slip catch off MacGill, triggered a collapse in which the last five wickets tumbled for 28, four to MacGill who followed his first innings 4 for 107 with 5 for 107 and the man of the match award.

Final day of five; West Indies won toss

AUSTRALIA – First Innings 605 for 9 dec (S R Waugh 115, R T Ponting 113).

WEST INDIES – First Innings 328 (C H Gayle 71, D S Smith 59; S C G MacGill 4-107)

WEST INDIES – Second Innings (Overnight: 187 for 3 (R R Sarwan 58 no, C H Gayle 56).
R R Sarwan lbw b MacGill 58
B C Lara lbw b Bichel 42
S Chanderpaul c Gilchrist b Gillespie 21
O A C Banks c Hayden b MacGill 32
C S Baugh run out 18
V C Drakes b MacGill 0
T L Best c Bichel b MacGill 0
J J C Lawson not out 5
Extras (b13 lb25 w1 nb2) 41
Total (116 overs) 284

Fall: 1-15 2-31 3-94 4-187 5-195 6-256 7-256 8-261 9-265.

Bowling: McGrath 18-4-39-0; Gillespie 28-11-37-1; MacGill 36-11-75-5; Lee 15-6-44-2; Bichel 12-2-35-1; Ponting 2-0-6-0; S R Waugh 4-1-6-0; Lehmann 1-0-4-0.

AUSTRALIA – Second Innings
J L Langer lbw b Lawson 0
M L Hayden not out 2
D S Lehmann not out 4
Extras (b2) 2
Total (for 1, 2.3 overs) 8

Fall: 1-0.

Did not bat: R T Ponting, S R Waugh, A C Gilchrist, A J Bichel, B Lee, J N Gillespie, G D McGrath, S C G MacGill.

Bowling: Lawson 1-0-2-1; Banks 1-0-2-0; Gayle 0.3-0-2-0.

Umpires: D R Shepherd (Eng) and S Venkataraghavan (India).