AUS VS WI: Shamar Joseph leaps to spark a stunning victory for the West Indies at the Gabba

Fast bowler takes seven Australian wickets despite having a crushed toe. While Steve Smith bats for 91NO, he is unable to get his team across the finish line.

AUS VS WI: West Indies won their first Test match in Australia in 27 years, defeating Australia by just eight runs in a remarkably dramatic finale, with to seven wickets taken by Shamar Joseph at the Gabba.

Ahead of just 3,162 spectators in Brisbane on Sunday, the hosts were comfortably leading 2-113 in the opening session of the fourth day as they looked to win the series 2-0.

Then, second-gamer Shamar Joseph (7-68) opened the floodgates by taking six wickets in an amazing 10-over performance, despite having had his toe shattered by a Mitchell Starc yorker the previous evening.

In his second Test as an opener, Steve Smith (91 not out) carried his bat and initiated a daring rescue attempt. However, Joseph would not be defeated. In amazing circumstances, he ran towards the boundary and sent Josh Hazlewood’s stumps flying for his seventh wicket, forcing a 1-1 tie in the series.

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Reaching a peak speed of about 150 km/h, Joseph was able to find life with an old pink ball that had given Australia’s batters little trouble in the past. He started the collapse by bowling Travis Head (42) and Cameron Green (42) with successive deliveries.

Head became just the seventh Australian to register a king pair with his golden duck, which was his third consecutive in Test matches at the Gabba. In a frenzied six-over session that also cost 45 runs, Alex Carey (two) became Joseph’s fourth victim after Smith survived the hat-trick ball but Mitchell Marsh (10) did not last much longer.

But Joseph wasn’t finished, as Starc (21 off 14) became his sixth wicket in as many overs, capping an Australian quick’s fleeting appearance that included four boundaries.

When captain Pat Cummins came to the crease ten minutes before the tea break, Australia still needed 45 to win. Cummins had scorched an unbeaten career-best 64 in the first innings before declaring 22 short of the West Indies’ first-innings 311 total. After trailing for just three, Nathan Lyon managed to hold on until halftime, with Australia needing 29 more runs to win and finish a 5-0 summer sweep.

Lyon fell in the first over after the resumption, but Smith continued to counter-attack as he spectacularly ramped a six as the target went into single figures. But he exposed Hazlewood once too often and Joseph clattered the stumps once more to cap an incredible solo performance.

Joseph said he thought he’d struggle to even be at the ground after being forced to retire hurt on Saturday night, until chatting to the team doctor. “He did something to my toe, I don’t know what he did,” Joseph said. “I feel that we’ve won the series, even though it’s 1-1. I already cried after my five-wicket haul … I’m not that tired; I told my skipper today I’d bowl today until the last wicket fell.”

West Indies Test squad for Australia tour: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Alzarri Joseph (vice-captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclai, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.

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