Voges, Marsh dominate limp West Indies
At 10am on a greenish pitch, Jason Holder lost the toss but didn't mind that Steven Smith chose to bat. "Hopefully we can exploit the conditions as best as possible and get into their middle order," he said. By 12.30pm they had done so; Australia were 3 for 121 and wobbling. It turned out getting through that middle order was the hard part, for by 6pm Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh had cruised to centuries, had a triple-hundred partnership, and Australia were 3 for 438.
The only consolation for Holder was that he hadn't sent Australia in, though he said he would have done so if given the chance. Apart from one crowded hour when they claimed all three of their wickets - the hour leading up to lunch - West Indies were lacklustre. And such was their awful over rate that Holder declined the new ball late in the day so his part-time spinners could race through a few overs. It was quantity, not quality, and they still fell one over short.
Perhaps only in outer space could Voges and Marsh have been surrounded by less pressure than they were by the close of play. Still, their contributions should not be under-valued. They came together before lunch with Australia in danger of being embarrassed. But Voges especially turned that on its head in the second session, moving to a run-a-ball century, his third in Test cricket. He had solid support from Marsh, who scored slower but also raised his third Test hundred.