Aussies take charge as Lyon continues Oval love affair

For once, it wasn't Mitchell Starc who ran riot under floodlights but the lesser lights of Michael Neser and Cameron Green who led the charge as Australia tightened their hold on the second NRMA Insurance Test against West Indies.

Coupled with Nathan Lyon's dismissal of Jermaine Blackwood which saw him overtake the late Shane Warne as all-time leading Test wicket-taker at Adelaide Oval, Australia reduced their undermanned rivals to 4-102 at the close of day two, holding a lead of 409.

It came after another home team run glut, with the world's top-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne (163) and equally in-form Travis Head (175) pushing their union past 250 and lifting the total to 7(dec)-511.

The nocturnal damage would have been greater but for the continued defiance of West Indies opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the mature-age rookie who has been his team's undisputed highlight of a bleak campaign and resumes tomorrow defiantly undefeated on 47.

Chanderpaul's mix of stoic defence and stylish attack led Australia to adopt some innovative field settings, with Green at one stage bowling with four in the deep behind the wicket including a long-stop immediately behind keeper Alex Carey.

It was Neser who landed the evening's two crucial blows, removing rival skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (19) to thwart any West Indian hopes he might reprise his gallant century from the series opener in Perth.

The Queenslander – who for the second time in as many Adelaide Tests was a last-minute addition to the playing XI, albeit for Josh Hazlewood rather than Pat Cummins this year – had shrugged off an earlier blow to the head he sustained when struck by an Alzarri Joseph bouncer while batting.

But in his third over tonight, Neser found the edge of Shamarh Brooks – himself a concussion substitute who had shown great poise and promise in Perth – having turfed a sharp return chance off the same batter a few balls earlier.

Lyon then produced a trademark diving snare off his own bowling to ensure Blackwood's 50th Test appearance was anything but memorable, and midway through the final session the West Indies were in typical trouble at 3-50 and still 461 in deficit.

Which was entirely in keeping with stand-in skipper Steve Smith's strategic plan.

Australia's tactical declaration had come – as largely expected – half an hour before the end of the second session, at which time the lights were glaring and the magic of the magenta ball was sure to be revealed.

Except that, for the second time in as many evening performances, the mysticism failed to show.

If anyone was like to become bedazzled by its sorcery, it would surely have been Chanderpaul in just his second Test.

Even though the left-hander has experienced day-night cricket in the Caribbean, it's safe to assume he's not encountered anything like an attack of Starc, Scott Boland and Neser yet he acquitted himself with perhaps even greater aplomb than in last week's impressive debut.

With the admirable ability to simply play the line of off stump, rather than get drawn into following the moving ball, Chanderpaul proved immune to the vicissitudes of the lacquered ball and even unleashed a rare show of aggression.

The son of West Indies batting legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, he looked the very image of his dad as he slog-swept Lyon with such force in the final hour the ball not only cleared the mid-wicket boundary rope but slammed into the electronic display boards that ring the field.

It took a large chunk out of the ball, which the Australians clearly believed might also have robbed it of its mystical power and their entreaties to have it replaced proved successful at overs end.

But the new model wasn't up to the old one's tricks, and the visitors lost just one more wicket before the close of a day that again belonged to Australia's batters.

The mood of celebration that percolated through Adelaide Oval last night when Head brought up his first hometown Test hundred shortly before stumps returned in the opening over of day two, as Head pushed a single to deep point off Jason Holder.

Even by Adelaide's notoriously parochial standards, cheering every run from the local lad might seem a touch over the top but was explained by the fact that registered Head and Labuschagne's 200-run stand for the fourth wicket, from 282 balls faced.

The pace at which the pair scored the previous evening, when they rattled on 141 from 34 overs under the full glare of floodlights, did not return today but the duo found the boundary with enough regularity to maintain Australia's innings rate of almost four per over.

Part of the reason for brakes being applied after last night's freewheeling was the West Indies' adoption of a leg-side attack against Labuschagne, who was robbed of the chance to free his arms and instead relied on regular nudges and tucks behind square.

It was shortly after Labuschagne reached his fifth score of 150 in his 30th Test that his desire to push the score along cost him his wicket, in similar circumstances to how his innings ended on 204 in last week's Perth Test.

Looking to angle a ball marginally outside off stump to third, the right-hander managed a fine edge that was neatly caught by keeper Joshua da Silva up to the stumps for Devon Thomas's gentle medium-pace.

He and Head had fashioned a 297-run partnership, the largest fourth-wicket stand for Australia at Adelaide Oval since ex-skippers Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke piled on 386 against India in 2011-12.

Head had reached his 150 shortly before Labuschagne achieved the milestone, and was struggling to find the same strokeplaying freedom he exhibited last night when he was dismissed in what had loomed as the only feasible way the West Indies might claim his wicket.

After Green nudged a ball from spinner Roston Chase to short fine leg and turned instinctively for a second run, he seemed to momentarily lose sight of the ball as Thomas slid to gather it and fling a return to da Silva.

In that fleeting hesitation, Green and Head both stopped but only the latter re-started and by the time he realised his partner wasn't running, was forced to launch a despairing dive that left him desperately short.

As the third umpire confirmed his run out, Head was clearly unimpressed with the circumstances of his removal and Green's role in it, and barely acknowledged the standing ovation he received from his home crowd of 27,490 having notched his highest Test score.

Not that Green needed any additional burden to carry.

The 23-year-old all-rounder, who was not required to bat in either innings of the first NRMA Insurance Test in Perth, would have been dismissed from the first ball he faced from Holder had substitute fielder Kyle Mayers not been standing unfathomably deep at first slip.

Green then showed the sort of struggle in search of timing expected of someone who hadn't batted at Test level since July, and had managed just six off 34 balls faced when Head was run out.

It was therefore difficult to discern if the mix-up and subsequent bust-up had an impact on his batting, so rusty had it appeared, and it was scarcely a surprise when he was bowled off the bottom edge of his bat to a ball he tried to let pass having reached nine.

Carey had been similarly starved of time in the middle, but could not have presented a more stark contrast to his younger teammate.

Carey unfurled his beloved reverse sweep to send the first delivery he received from Chase – whose series return to date of 1-288 lands him the highest average of any Test bowler to tour Australia – scooting to the backward point/square leg boundary.

The Australia keeper then motored along as the pre-dusk declaration loomed, finishing unbeaten on 41 (from 54 balls faced) when Smith called time 20 minutes before the dinner break.

It meant Australia have now completed seven consecutive Test innings against the West Indies stretching back to 2015 in which their rivals have failed to claim all 10 wickets.

Openers Chanderpaul and Brathwaite – the scorer of the visitors' sole century of the Test series to date – gave their team hope of similarly stout resistance when they survived the five overs before dinner during which the ball was expected to misbehave, without loss.

However, when play resumed for the night session and Australia's bowlers steamed in with a still-new ball in hand, the series' normal narrative was resumed.

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

First Test: Australia won by 164 runs

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Marquino Mindley, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas

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