“Remember the name – Shamar Joseph!”
The 24-year-old was in no position to return on the fourth day of the Brisbane Test and bowl against the Australians after hurting his toes with a Micthell Starc Yorker on Saturday night. He was immediately rushed to hospital and his injury meant that the West Indies were 193 all-out in their second essay, challenging the hosts with a 216 target.
Australia had a little more than 2 days to finish the chase. Even they went off to a decent start, scoring 60/2 at stumps on the third day. But Sunday, the 28th, was meant to be for the West Indies. The doctors cleared Joseph to play and he was back roaring at the Gabba.
The 24-year-old bowled 11.5 overs of hostile pace to finish with 7-68 in just his second Test. His last victim was Josh Hazlewood who was clean bowled when the hosts needed 9 runs to finish the game and clinch the series 2-0.
It was a surreal feeling for the entire Caribbean XI as they ran across the Gabba in joy, hugging and congratulating each other for a historic win. After bowling Australia out for 207 in the second session Sunday, the West Indies recorded their first win in Australia since they last tasted victory in Perth in 1997.
“Kraigg kept coming up and asking if I was alright, but I said I’m not coming off,” Joseph said. “I said I wanted to do it for the team. I think this win is very important for us and it’s just the beginning for West Indies cricket.”
Australian captain Pat Cummins said that while the loss hurt he could see the benefit it would have on cricket in the West Indies.
“It hurts — they outplayed us,” Cummins said.
“I know a lot of the talk coming into this series was there’s a lot of (West Indian) debutants, but once you put them in an international eleven, you know it’s going to be tough. They were fantastic – they’ve created a couple of new superstars. As a cricket fan, as a Test match cricket fan, there’s a part of me that’s happy,” he added.
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