Brisbane, Australia
Legendary West Indies batter and commentator Brian Lara was seen in tears on Sunday (Jan 28) after his side clinched a historic win at the Gabba against hosts Australia. Lara, who was in the commentary box during West Indies’ 8-run win over the Aussies turned emotional. The victory was inspired by Shamar Joseph who scalped seven wickets in the second innings and helped West Indies clinch their first win at Gabba since 1968.
The 3 Kings…@gilly381 @BrianLara #Smithy
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— Mark Howard (@MarkHoward03) January 28, 2024
Lara in tears after historic win
"Unbelievable. 27 years to beat Australia in Australia. Young inexperienced, written off! This West Indies team can stand tall today. West Indies cricket can stand tall today. Today is a big day in West Indies cricket. Congratulations, Congratulations to every single member of that West Indies team," Brian Lara while describing West Indies’ winning moment against Australia.
A standing ovation was given to Joseph as he played with a broken foot in the second innings having sustained a minor knock on Saturday. The speedster still managed to bowl and scalped a total of eight wickets in the match. He ended with figures of 68/7 in the second innings which helped them down Australia for the first time in 27 years in their own backyard.
In February 1997, West Indies beat Australia by 10 wickets at the WACA with Lara, now in the commentary box, scoring 132 runs in the first innings. Interestingly, Lara’s then-teammate in the 1997 win, Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son Tagenarine Chanderpaul also featured in today’s match.
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WTC standings after West Indies’ historic win
The win for West Indies did favour to them as they leapfrogged England in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings. The Caribbean side currently sits seventh with a win percentage of 33.33 from four matches. The win was also their first in the ongoing WTC cycle in four matches with two defeats and a defeat as well.
Despite the defeat, Australia continue to lead the charts in the WTC standings and have a win percentage of 55.00 after 10 matches. They have so far registered six wins and a draw while they have faced defeat on three occasions.
The defeat for Aussies was also their first in the summer and saw the two-match series finish at 1-1 having previously beaten Pakistan 3-0 at the start of the year.