Bridgetown [Barbados], June 27 : Mitchell Starc believes the surface at Kensington Oval won't follow the same trajectory as the one at Lord's during the recent World Test Championship (WTC) final, as Australia aim to set a challenging target and avoid a rare series defeat to the West Indies, reported ESPNcricinfo.
Earlier this month at Lord's, both Australia and South Africa struggled with low first-innings scores before conditions eased dramatically on Day 3 under bright skies. Starc himself contributed a half-century in that game, followed by Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma steering South Africa to a memorable chase.
Travis Head and Beau Webster will resume Australia's second innings on Day 3 with a lead of 82.
"I think the wicket at Lord's was very flat when the sun came out," Starc said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"I certainly found it easy to bat on. This (one), we've seen these two days, there's so much variable (bounce) there. We saw yesterday on day one the ball shoot low, and then the next over it jumped up and created a wicket. I think that'll probably be the same tomorrow. And some good bowling that creates enough chances," he added.
"There was a little bit of a partnership there with Beau and Trav (Travis Head) (27 so far) there at the end, so hopefully that can continue in the morning and then push it as far as we can (with) some lower-order runs and then go from there. I think there's enough chances (being created) as we've seen for the last two days, that you're never quite in and you never know what total is going to be enough," he noted.
When West Indies head coach Daren Sammy was asked what target he'd consider chaseable, he joked and said, "I'd love to chase 82. Somebody get a double hat-trick or something."
The remark, though light-hearted, came from a visibly frustrated Sammy, who has voiced concerns about umpiring decisions and was left disappointed by his team's fielding lapses. West Indies dropped Sam Konstas twice on zero, taking their total dropped catches in the match to six, five of which came off Shamar Joseph's bowling. Fortunately for the hosts, Konstas managed only 5 before Joseph dismissed him for the second time in the match.
"Pretty sure they are going to get a nice bollocking. Not too angry, but for sure, it's an attitude," Sammy said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"The same way you practice your batting and your bowling, fielding and catching become equally important. Catching a slip is a skill. As somebody who fielded there, it's a skill we constantly have to work on, putting time in it," he added.
"Good teams will make you pay. So far, it's not been too costly, but this is something that, for us to improve on the goals that we have for this team, is going to continue. Our catching efficiency has to go up," he noted.
Despite the missed opportunities, West Indies and especially Shamar Joseph have made an early statement in the series. The pacer has exposed Konstas' vulnerability, dismissing him cheaply twice with scores of just 3 and 5, and making the young batter's second innings particularly uncomfortable.
"I think he had three chances and still scored five," Sammy said, as per ESPNcricinfo.
"Credit to our boys. The plans that we had against their top order and the areas that the guys bowled at him, made it very difficult. Kudos to Shamar, (because) before the Test started, he did say he's ready for Konstas when they asked about him," he added.