Tail wags but Clarke takes five to wrap up series win for Australia

Australia 328 & 259 West Indies 218 & 294 (Australia win by 75 runs)

Australia won the third and final Test against West Indies by 75 runs yesterday to secure a 2-0 series win despite a valiant second-innings effort from the hosts.

Set a daunting target of 370 to win, West Indies resumed on 173 for five and were bowled out for 294, shortly before lunch on the final day.

Australia captain Michael Clarke finished with five wickets for only the second time in his Test career while his counterpart Darren Sammy scored a lively 61, his best Test score. The chase ended when Sammy top-edged Nathan Lyon, as he tried to sweep the spinner, and Ben Hilfenhaus took the catch to seal victory.

The Dominican crowd had appreciated an entertaining effort by the West Indian tail with local favourite Shane Shillingford making his best Test score of 31 in a 49-run last-wicket stand with Sammy.

The target always looked too much for West Indies on a pitch that offered turn and bounce but West Indies may wonder what might have been had Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo survived the final session on Thursday. Their 110-run partnership offered a glimmer of hope but Australia never looked like loosening their grip on the series.

The West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh have been dropped from the West Indies squad for the tour of England which starts next week. Denesh Ramdin replaces Baugh, and Marlon Samuels is recalled after a three-week stint in the Indian Premier League. The only new cap in the squad is Trinidad fast bowler Shannon Gabriel. West Indies start with a three-day match against Sussex on 5 May. There are Tests at Lord's, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston.