Adelaide, Australia

Australian speedster Josh Hazlewood added another feather to his impressive cap on Wednesday (Jan 17) after he dismissed Alick Athanaze on Day 1 of the Adelaide Test against West Indies. Hazlewood, playing in his 67th Test match for the nation scalped four wickets alongside skipper Pat Cummins to bowl out West Indies for 188. With Athanaze’s dismissal, Hazlewood reached 250 wickets in the red-ball format as the hosts continued their impressive run during the Australian summer.

Advertisment

×

Hazlewood brings up 250 Test wickets

Having been asked to bat first, West Indies did not have the best start in the match as they lost wickets at regular intervals. On the third ball of the 26th over, he stunned Athanaze with an inward-moving ball which saw the batter bowled out. With the wicket, he reached 250 wickets in Test cricket becoming the fourth-highest active wicket-taker for the Baggy Greens. He joined the likes of Nathan Lyon (509), Mitchell Starc (346) and Pat Cummins (262) to achieve the present-day feat.

Advertisment

×

Hazlewood is also the 11th-highest wicket-taker for Australia in Tests as he continues to impress for the side in a bust summer.

At the time of writing, Australia were 25/1 with Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith taking guard as openers. The latter was only drafted as an opener after David Warner announced his retirement from the format. But his dream start as opener was turned into a nightmare with Shamar Joseph getting the better of Smith on his first international delivery.

Advertisment

ALSO READ | Australian Open: Teenager Mirra Andreeva thrashes Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur in second round

Australia’s impressive summer

While Hazlewood has been in sparkling form, the Baggy Greens have themselves enjoyed a stellar run during the Australian summer where they have won all three Test matches so far. They beat Pakistan in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney with convincing margins. The win in Sydney was a special one as it dropped curtains on Warner’s illustrious Test career. The wins have also boosted chances of a top-two finish for the Aussies in the World Test Championship (WTC) race.

Currently occupying the top spot, Australia will look to close the summer on a high with wins in Adelaide and Brisbane.