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Lucky 13 Australia clinches series, continues record winning streak
Updated: Tuesday December 19, 2000 4:42 AM
ADELAIDE, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia beat the West Indies by five wickets in the third cricket test on Tuesday to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series and retain the Frank Worrell Trophy. Needing to score just 32 more runs after starting the fifth and final day at 98-4 chasing 130 to win, Australia cruised to victory in 38 minutes for the loss of one wicket to extend its world record sequence of consecutive test wins to 13. "I thought it really was a terrific win," Australia's stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist said. "We were up against it from the moment I lost the toss but the guys never lost their direction or spirit. "It's the first time questions have been asked of this team for a number of test matches and we had the ability and the belief to answer those questions." After winning the first two tests inside three days, Australia was forced to work much harder to win on an Adelaide Oval pitch that was full of runs for the first three days then deteriorated after that. The match was still in the balance at the start of the fourth day when Australia was restricted to a 12-run lead on the first innings after Brian Lara had returned to form with a magnificent 182. But the West Indies' batting failed it in the second innings and it collapsed to be all out for 141, giving Australia a relatively small target of 130 to chase. "It's an improvement on some of the cricket we've played since we've been here," West Indies captain Jimmy Adams said. "It wasn't the result that we wanted and we'll have to sit down and look at where we went wrong but hopefully we can build on what happened here. "We mucked up in our second innings but that's the nature of the difference between the top teams in the world and those who aren't, the fact that you can go for five days. "I've played on occasions when West Indian teams have bowled out teams for under 130... but we just didn't put enough runs on the board in the second innings." Keep on winning Gilchrist said the victory was further proof of Australia's ability to keep winning regardless of the circumstances or the state of the match. "A lot of the focus has been on the West Indies and how poorly they've played," Gilchrist said. "People have said they can't compete but they've proven they can, they've proven they've got world class cricketers in their team. "This was a tremendous comeback, it showed a great deal of our fighting qualities. "There's no doubt it was a harder test than any test we've had this summer but it was great to play a proper, hard test like that. "We'd like to continue on this winning run. The great thing about it is there's no way we'll become complacent or not have incentive to win." Australian off-spinner Colin Miller was named man of the match after taking career-best figures of 5-81 and 5-32 and getting Lara in both innings. Lara goes A late bloomer who made his test debut in 1998 at age 34, Miller swung the match Australia's way when he dismissed Lara for 39 in the second innings when the master batsman looked to be on course for another big century. With Lara out of the way, Australia tore through the West Indian lower order then overcame a minor collapse of their own to win comfortably and give Gilchrist a dream start to the captaincy. It's unlikely Gilchrist will skipper the side again in the near future with Steve Waugh expected to be back from injury for the next test starting in Melbourne on December 26 but he showed enough in his one outing to suggest he has the material to do the job when Waugh eventually retires. "I'm absolutely thrilled. It's the proudest moment of my cricket career," Gilchrist said. "It was a pretty tough initiation. It was a real rollercoaster but I feel quite proud and happy that I did a good job. "It's been a tremendous experience and I've really learnt a lot and if I'm ever called up again to do the job, I'd never say no." Adams said: "They are a competitive unit with an inherent confidence. "I think it was a challenge to them to prove themselves without Steve there."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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