For the very first time in his career as a skipper, Australia’s Pat Cummins seems to have tasted disappointment. Under his leadership, more recently, the Aussies won the World Cup 2023, beat Pakistan at home 3-0, and looked all set a whitewash over touring West Indies as well.
But West Indies bowler Shamar Joseph had other plans, as he took seven wickets in Australia’s chase of 216, as the visitors won their first match Down Under in 27 years. Though the series ended 1-1, still it was a big jolt for the Aussie side, who had not lost a Test at home, since India’s 1-2 drubbing in 2021.
Even Cummins acknowledged the unpredictability of the sport. After the match he said, “I think we’ve all played enough to know this game humbles you quickly, as soon as you think you’re on top of the world, it pulls you down and you start from zero, I think the West Indies played brilliantly.
“They played really well, 1-1 is probably a pretty fair result for the series. Good thing is there’s always another game around the corner, any away tour is going to be difficult but we’re looking forward to it (tour to New Zealand).”
Cummins reserved praise for Joseph, as well as Steve Smith, who in his new role as opener nearly took Australia over the line. “The way Shamar bowled was right up there, unfortunately we weren’t good enough. We were pretty confident coming in today. Think we did well yesterday to restrict them to a 216-run target, thought we had a chance. Smith was fantastic, almost dragged us over the line.”
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