Warner, Starc blitz crushes Windies

Full scorecard: West Indies v Australia

Australia have completed an emphatic nine-wicket victory over the West Indies on the third day in Dominica to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy with the second Test in Jamaica still to come next week.

Despite a resolute fourth-wicket partnership between Marlon Samuels and debutant Shane Dowrich, Australia dismissed the home side for 216 late on day three and chased down the 47 runs required in just five overs.

With light fading and rain fast approaching, David Warner smashed two sixes and three boundaries in racing to 28 from just 20 balls before he was caught in the slips trying to end the match with a third six. Shaun Marsh added 13 from seven balls while it was left to Steven Smith (5) to hit the winning runs .

Adam Voges was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten century on the second day, while Mitchell Starc took three wickets in 18 balls in the final session to finish with a match haul of 6-76.

The match looked like it would stretch into a fourth day when Samuels and Dowrich combined for a 144-run stand in just under 50 overs either side of the lunch break, but a collapse of 7-35 handed Australia victory.

Captain Michael Clarke said he was pleased to record the victory inside three days, just Australia's third Test win away from home since their last visit here in 2012.

"I think we played really well as a team to be honest in conditions that are certainly opposite to what you're accustomed to in Australia," Clarke said.

"I think we bowled really well in our first innings, we found a way to get a good lead and then I thought we fought really hard throughout today on a wicket that was extremely slow, so there wasn't much there for our bowlers.

"To be able to take 20 wickets is credit to the way they fought.

"I've always been a big believer in I don't care who takes the wickets, who gets the runs, it's about getting it done and I think we did that as a team."

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Smith and Clarke celebrate the win // Getty Images

Windies captain Denesh Ramdin was left to lament to sub-standard batting performance, apart from the partnership between Samuels and Dowrich today.

"Not the start that we wanted. We didn't bat as well as we wanted in the first innings," Ramdin said.

"148 on a good pitch and then, yeah, in their first innings at nine wickets down that partnership really took it away from us.

"Marlon Samuels and young Dowrich batted really well and that one hour before and after the tea break, that's where we lost the game there."

The difference between the sides was most starkly illustrated by Australia's outstanding catching and Warner produced another exceptional take to dismiss Darren Bravo in the fifth over of the morning.

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Warner celebrates a great catch // Getty Images

Having crawled to 5 from 23 balls, Bravo threw everything at a wider delivery from Josh Hazlewood only to lob the ball to Warner's right at mid-off. The opener launched himself horizontally and plucked it with both hands before landing on the turf and turning to the small group of Australian fans on the hill with arms outstretched.

Hazlewood almost had his second a short time later when it appeared a lofted drive from Dowrich had been taken low down by Nathan Lyon at short cover. But the spinner was unsure if the ball had carried and replays proved inconclusive, so the debutant survived.

In fact, the wicket of Bravo would be Australia's only success in the first session as Dowrich and Samuels dug in on surface that was taking considerable turn.

It was slow-going – the first boundary off the bat came in the 20th over of the morning – but the duo were able to put on their team's first half-century partnership of the match and take the score to 3-97 at lunch.

Apart from a few lbw shouts from Starc’s bowling and the near stumping of Samuels by Brad Haddin off the bowling of Shane Watson just before the break, the Windies duo were untroubled despite the scoring rate being just a touch above 2.5 runs an over.

They upped the ante after the interval, however, taking Lyon for 18 from his opening two overs before Samuels was fortunate to survive after a mix-up saw him well short of his ground at the striker's end when Warner's throw from mid-off just flashed past the stumps.

Two milestones came in two balls in the next over, Voges's first in Test cricket; Samuels brought up his 22nd Test fifty with a single and then Dowrich raised the hundred partnership, before the first-gamer celebrated a half-century of his own with a well-timed pull shot for four off Mitchell Johnson.

And when Samuels forcefully heaved Clarke to the mid-wicket boundary, the home side had wiped off the deficit with still just three wickets down, a situation that had looked unlikely when play began.

The Windies duo defied eight different Australian bowlers until 10 minutes before the tea break when Hazlewood – who was producing considerable reverse swing – had Dowrich well caught low down by Watson at short mid-on, ending the first-gamer's innings on 70 and the partnership on 144 from just one ball short of 50 overs.

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Watson grasps the catch to dismiss Dowrich // Getty Images

Four down at tea and with a lead of 19, the Windies added just nine before Lyon removed Jermaine Blackwood for 12. The off-spinner had just drawn a false shot from Samuels before the No.6 charged so far down the pitch that when his wild swipe failed to connect, Haddin had enough time to fumble the ball, regather and remove the bails.

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Haddin stumps Blackwood // Getty Images

The key wicket of Samuels followed three balls later when he was caught on the fine-leg boundary for the second time in the match. The right-hander attempted to hook a Johnson bouncer from way outside off-stump and could only sky a top-edge to Mitchell Starc on the rope to depart for 74 and leave the Windies six down and just 28 in front.

The collapse continued three overs later when captain Denesh Ramdin attempted to cut against a vicious-turning off-break from Lyon, only to drag the ball back onto his stumps and depart for three.

It was Lyon's 141st Test wicket and drew him level with the mark set by Hugh Trumble, who has held the mantle as Australia's most prolific Test off-spinner for 111 years.

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Lyon celebrates a wicket with teammates // Getty Images

But the introduction of the second new ball meant Lyon will have to wait until next week's Test in Jamaica to break Trumble's record, as Starc ran through the remainder of the home side's lower order.

The left-armer removed Jerome Taylor for a first-ball duck with a wicked in-swinger that had the Windies No.9 dead in front before a yorker dislodged the leg bail of the left-handed Devendra Bishoo to leave the home side nine down and just 46 in front. 

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Starc ripped through the West Indies tail // Getty Images

And the lead would remain at 46 as another Starc yorker bowled Gabriel first ball, giving the left-armer his fourth wicket of the innings and completing a collapse of 7-35.

The victory target of 47 was never going to cause many problems and with dark clouds rolling in, Warner and Marsh attacked with gusto from the opening over.

Warner smashed three fours and two sixes in a 20-ball innings of 28 before he edged Taylor to Bravo at first slip just five runs short of victory, before Smith joined Marsh to close out the match and a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Day one highlights

Day two highlights