Matthew Wade turned the third Test against the West Indies around before Australia’s bowlers put the hosts to the sword in Dominica.
Wade’s maiden Test century lifted Australia to 328 in their first innings before the Windies limped to 8-165 at stumps on day two thanks to an unbroken 45-run stand by Shivnarine Chanderpaul (34no) and Ravi Rampaul (24no).
Nathan Lyon was the star with the ball for Australia, using the turn and bounce on the pitch to claim 3-49 and enable the tourists to take a stranglehold on the Test after Wade’s hundred.
Wade, dropped on 22 by Kemar Roach early in Tuesday’s action at Windsor Park, scored 106 in just his third Test, adding 159 runs with the tail after Australia had been 7-169 on day one.
The 24-year-old, the youngest wicketkeeper to score a Test hundred for Australia, took just 32 deliveries to go from 50 to 100 and fittingly passed the milestone with the 10th boundary of an innings that also included three sixes.
The only bright note for the hosts on a bad morning where the Windies let Australia add a further 116 runs for their last three wickets was spinner Shane Shillingford claiming the last two wickets to fall to finish with career-best figures of 6-119.
The Windies’ response begun badly with Ben Hilfenhaus (1-15) removing Kraigg Brathwaite for a duck before Adrian Barath (29) and Kieran Powell (40) added 61 for the second wicket.
Barath’s fall shortly before tea along with Darren Bravo’s demise at the hands of David Warner (1-21) for 10 ruined their good work however.
After the tea break it was all one-way traffic with Ed Cowan’s direct hit run-out of Windies’ skipper Darren Sammy the highlight as the hosts lost four wickets for just 24 runs.
The Test resumes at 10am on Wednesday (2400 AEST).