Seales's Early Strikes Keep West Indies in Contention After Australia's Day 2 Dominance

Jayden Seales delivered a crucial performance, dismantling Australia's top order in the second innings of the Grenada Test. His impactful bowling provided the West Indies with a vital opportunity to stay competitive in the match.

Jayden Seales celebrates a late Day 2 wicket. (AP Photo)

After a day largely controlled by the bowlers, Seales's efforts ensured a more balanced contest.

The Australian team, led by Pat Cummins, had earlier bowled out the Windies for just 253 runs, falling short of their first innings total of 286. The West Indies innings spanned nearly a day on the Grenada pitch, which offered considerable assistance to fast bowlers, especially with the new ball.

Kraigg Brathwaite, in his 100th Test, suffered a duck, caught and bowled by Josh Hazlewood in the first over. Keacy Carty followed, falling to Pat Cummins for 6, and John Campbell's promising start of 40 was cut short when he was caught at mid-on off Beau Webster.

Brandon King's maiden Test half-century and valuable runs from the tailenders (73) helped the West Indies close the gap on Australia's 286.

At 174-7 after lunch, still trailing by over 100 runs, the West Indies' batters from 8 to 11 – Alzarri and Shamar Joseph in particular – frustrated the Australians for 25 overs.

King and captain Roston Chase, who took 18 balls to score, steadied the innings from 64-3 to 110-3 by lunch. Chase was dismissed immediately after lunch, trapped lbw by Hazlewood for 16 after an Australian review.

King then hit Hazlewood for six over square leg, and his seventh boundary brought up his 50 off 77 balls, his first in his second Test and the West Indies' first of the series. The batter then hit Lyon for two more sixes as his partnership with Shai Hope started to flourish.

However, Cummins ended their 58-run stand when he bowled Hope for 21, and King was dismissed in the next over, caught behind off Lyon. King scored 75 off 108 balls, including eight boundaries and three sixes.

The fall of Justin Greaves resulted in West Indies falling to 174-7.

The Josephs added 51 runs, with Alzarri scoring 27 and Shamar 29. The last pair, Anderson Phillip and Seales, resisted for nearly 11 overs for 16 runs.

All six Australian bowlers took wickets, with Lyon leading the way with 3-75.

Seales Strikes Early

The Australian top order has been under scrutiny since their home Test series against India. Jayden Seales dismissed both opening batters, reducing Australia's second innings to 12-2 and their lead over the West Indies to 45 runs on Day 2.

The hosts aimed to make conditions as challenging as possible and exploit Australia's shaky top order.

Seales bowled Sam Konstas for a duck in the first over and almost dismissed Cameron Green on the next ball. Green narrowly avoided a catch, with the ball falling short of second slip. Seales then trapped Usman Khawaja lbw for 2 with a nip-backer. Khawaja's review confirmed the ball would have hit middle stump.

Nathan Lyon came in as nightwatchman, and he and Green managed to reach stumps.