Australia were rocked early by Jerome Taylor as he got rid of the top-order, but, once again, Steve Smith rose to occasion and struck his ninth Test ton to recover the visitors at the Sabina Park.
Taylor was outstanding in his opening spell, he swung the ball both ways and left the Aussies clueless. The Windies pacer removed David Warner for a duck and then Shaun Marsh inside five overs.
Unfortunately, Taylor was fighting a lone battle as he got no support from fellow bowlers – Kemar Roach, Jason Holder and Veerasammy Permaul – who were wayward and expensive.
The West Indies failed to create any pressure from the other end and as Taylor was removed from the attack it become a bit easy for Smith and Australia skipper Michael Clarke in the middle.
Smith and Clarke stitched a crucial 118-run partnership for the third wicket, helping their side to recover from early jolts given by Taylor.
“I’m only one person,” Taylor, who looked furious with fellow bowlers, said. “It is a bowling unit and each of us have to get a fair chance out there
“So, at the same time we know what is required moving forward, so it is a case where each and every one has to chip in,” he added. “And I think the effort was good at the end of the day.”
Jason Holder, meanwhile, managed to get rid of Clarke, who missed his half-century by just three runs. But, till then Smith had cut lose and was playing his shots.
Smith made a 76-run partnership with Adam Voges and subsequently completed his fifth Test ton in six matches. There was no stopping for Smith as he ended the day unbeaten.
Australia reached to a decent position at stumps on Day 1, making 258 for the loss of four wickets. Smith (135 not out) and Shane Watson (20 not out) are unbeaten batsmen for Australia.
“I was a little bit surprised with that and I was very surprised they didn’t take the new ball at the end tonight,” Smith said. “It worked out well for us I guess.”
“I thought they bowled pretty well to start with today,” he added. “They obviously sent us in so there was a bit in the wicket.”
“That was the challenging part, getting through that. We’re always pretty sure if we came through that it’d come a lot easier and it turned out to be that way.”
