Lyon bowls Aussies to win but doubts linger over Cummins

Nathan Lyon's six wickets earned Australia a comfortable if hard-fought win in the NRMA Insurance Test Series opener, but it may have come at the cost of skipper Pat Cummins' involvement in the upcoming match at Adelaide Oval.

Lyon finished with 6-128 from almost 43 overs as the favourites were made to work hard for their 164-run win which was achieved midway through day five with 40 overs to spare.

But Australia's bowling effort was compromised by the absence of Cummins from the attack throughout the tourists' second innings due to a leg injury, with doubts raised about the 29-year-old's availability for the next game starting in four days.

Cummins remained on the field and in charge throughout today's proceedings but did not take the ball and was clearly inconvenienced in his movements.

At one stage, he was unable to bend to his right to intercept a ball driven along the ground and jogged gently behind it until he was compelled to lunge forward in a late bid to prevent it reaching the boundary rope.

The fact it took Australia's bowlers the best part of 210 overs across two innings to prise out 20 West Indies wickets made a mockery of pre-match predictions the Perth Stadium pitch would be a throwback to the fast-bowler friendly wild west tracks of old.

It also presents Australia's national selection panel with a dilemma, given the proximity of the second Test that starts in Adelaide on Thursday and the potential workload for the team's frontline quicks with potentially 14 more Tests over the following eight months.

While Cummins was not required to bowl in the visitors' second innings, he is expected to take a conservative approach to the soreness he felt in his right quadriceps in the latter half of the game.

In his absence, new-ball pair Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were called upon to bowl 45 and 43 overs respectively in the Test.

And with the Frank Worrell Trophy already retained there might be a case for elevating squad member Scott Boland and possibly additional resources such as Queensland's Mark Steketee or Michael Neser for the series finale.

A stubborn eight-wicket partnership of 82 between Roston Chase (55) and Alzarri Joseph (43) stalled Australia's victory charge, until part-time spinner Travis Head found success where the specialist bowlers had toiled fruitlessly.

Head, who despite his stunning return of 4-10 against Sri Lanka earlier this year had not given himself a bowl as captain of South Australia so far this season, had landed an initial blow today by removing Jason Holder with his second delivery.

He then returned to the attack 25 overs later, and in his first over found the edge of Joseph's bat with Alex Carey unable to clasp the deflection before rattling the stumps with his next ball.

His dual strike also meant only two West Indies wickets fell to fast bowling on the supposedly pace-bowler friendly surface in the second innings.

It was Lyon's dismissal of Kraigg Brathwaite – the West Indies skipper and their stand-out batting hope – that provided the pivotal moment of day five.

Brathwaite had held strong for more than six hours in a defiant bid to guide his team to an extraordinary draw, but was finally worked over by Australia's record-breaking off-spinner.

Having subtly reduced that pace of the first three deliveries of the 78th over, Lyon pushed throw a demonstrably quicker ball measured at 97kph that saw Brathwaite stranded on the crease and unable to combat the sharp spin before it crashed into the top of off stump.

Lyon pumped his fist in celebration, partly in triumph at seeing such a neatly thought strategy executed with clinical precision but more in recognition of the importance of the strike.

That reduced the West Indies to 5-212 with only the lower-order left to hold on for a further 80 overs in the knowledge the second new ball – which had acted as kryptonite to the tourists' batting in their first innings – was a couple of overs away.

Before that was taken, part-time off-spinner Head was given an over that yielded the wicket of former captain Holder, who tried to flay the wide delivery through cover as it drifted away from him.

The resultant fine edge somehow evaded keeper Carey's waiting gloves but was snaffled by Steve Smith who hurled himself acrobatically to his left, kicking his legs in the air as he tumbled which prompted his teammates to suggest Smith had added "mayo" to embellish the effort's difficulty.

Smith had claimed earlier in the match his "grumbly" left hip complaint had compromised his capacity to adopt his usual squatting stance at slip and forced him to, instead, walk in a couple of steps as the pace bowlers were operating.

But his catching was flawless when standing near the stumps, with the Holder dismissal his third smart snare of the innings.

When the new ball was taken shortly before lunch, it accounted for West Indies keeper Joshua da Silva whose angled bat provided perfect catching practice for Usman Khawaja at third slip.

But there was to be no repeat of the freefall of wickets that the second new ball had brought in the West Indies first innings.

The breakthrough Australia so urgently sought early in the day should have come in the morning's second over, but eluded them due to their reluctance to review.

Having squandered two third-umpire referrals yesterday, there was not so much as a team talk when Kyle Mayers pushed forward to Lyon's first ball of the day and it looped into the hands of Marnus Labuschagne at bat-pad.

Despite the vociferous appeal from both bowler and fielder, there was no suggestion of umpire Richard Illingworth's not out decision being sent for review and the game resumed with barely a blip.

But subsequent examination revealed the ball had indeed grazed the inside of Mayers' bat before being caught by Labuschagne, and the chance of an early wicket was lost.

It took a further four overs before Lyon had his man, finding the other edge of Mayers' blade as the left-hander pushed speculatively forward and Smith plucked the low offering at slip.

Another four overs, and Lyon claimed the key wicket of Brathwaite to clear a path to the West Indies middle order and lift himself to eighth place on the list of all-time Test wicket-takers with 446, ahead of fellow off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from India.

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

First Test: Australia win 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, 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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