MATCH STORIES
Follow UsShamar Joseph wasn’t in Australia’s plans when they walked out to complete the run-chase on day four at the Gabba.
After what happened on day three, when Shamar had his toe crushed, wishes had already started pouring for the 24-year-old all over the internet.
But then, like how The Undertaker returns time and again from such adversity, Shamar also made the ultimate comeback. The only thing missing was a theme song, which by the end of the Test series surely would become a mandate for the 24-year-old every time he runs in to bowl.
The first visual of Shamar was something like this, “Oh, he has made it to the ground, he is so lucky to avoid a broken toe.”
Little did Australia know that Shamar was only more motivated now.
No warm-up delivery, nothing; the Guyanese pacer was on target, bowling at 135 kmph. There was no sign of his toe being in trouble as the pace kept increasing until it amped past the 140 kmph mark.
While he was giving away runs rapidly, it was pace bowling at his brutal best. The ball was hitting on the makers’ label; the batters needed to assess the pace better and had to react more quickly than they did against Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach and Justin Greaves.
It was what the Australian crowd wanted to see; it is something that the Australian wickets have served for the longest time: assistance for some sensational fast bowling. If you are a pace bowler, you would lick your lips when you are at the Gabba. If you are bowling over 140 kmph, Gabba is the paradise.
Cameron Green was the victim of some raw rapid bowling. The ball leapt off from a length that deviated 12 cm more than the average length in the clash to smack Green’s elbow and disturb the timber.
If you are a budding pacer, you would watch this delivery day in and day out - straight out of the pace-bowling manual. That wicket pumped up Shamar more than the blow from the previous day, and he steamed in like Gatorade was fueling him.
And the result: a 141 kmph yorker that seared across Travis Head’s foot and disturbed the timber in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible. The delivery would have made the yesteryear Windies pacers jump on their sofa. Two in two wickets.
The pace kept increasing during the spell. If it was 141, it was 144 when Shamar took Mitchell Marsh by total surprise. Shamar was bamboozling the Australian batters. At that point, Steve Smith looked like the only batter who could have a say on the run-chase.
You could sense that every other batter walking out would be undone.
Shamar was casting a spell that trapped the Australian batters, leaving them dumbfounded. When Alex Carey was left to take the strike against the pace monster, you could see the fear on his face. Two deliveries later, Carey’s fear came true.
The 24-year-old nailed the yorker for the second time in the second innings. How on earth does someone this young, without so much First-Class experience, keep doing magical things? Better ask Shamar.
It would have done no harm if Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer was blasted on full volume at the Gabba.
Whoa, we're (Australia) half way there
Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear
Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer
Gabba, which once upon a time used to be the fortress, was on the verge of breaking for the second time in three years. If you think India’s win was sweet, West Indies’ win here would be sweeter. Both of them had literally no chance of winning the clash, but the odds were stacked heavily against the Windies.
A man who, only a day before, was screaming in a high-pitched voice was now tormenting the mighty Australians in their backyard. If Gabba 2021 was the win of a lifetime, Gabba 2024 might just better it, with how West Indies cricket was placed. A team that wasn’t playing a whole lot of Test, a team that was absolutely tormented in Australia the last time they visited.
But Shamar not only brought about hope, he infused an energy that Windies lacked for the longest time at the Test level. He brought enough energy to resurrect the dead and made the casual viewers hardcore fans of the longest format. It was like a poetic symphony from the Windies youngster, who was doing it all, ALONE!
Even when Mitchell Starc was going gungho, Shamar wasn’t too perturbed. All he had to do was find his radar, and when he found that, Starc could only shake his head. A second five-wicket haul in Australia, his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and only in his second Test.
It was almost a tribute to the yesteryear sensation Curtley Ambrose, who blew Australia in a spell of a lifetime, 7/1, on a bouncy Perth wicket. Shamar was like a reincarnation of the all-time great.
Shamar continued his stunning run, accounting now for the Australian skipper Pat Cummins as well. Ten overs, 60 runs, six wickets, one hope.
At that point, it was Smith vs Shamar; Australia vs West Indies. Shamar wasn't enough supposed to be at the venue, on his own admission.
“I must say, shout out to my team for the encouragement that they give out to me. The support they gave me during the pain, the pain in my toe. Nah, I wasn’t even coming to the ground this morning, to be fair. But I must give a shoutout to the doctor, he told me you have to come to the ground, at least to cheer the guys on," Shamar told broadcasters after the historic win.
“But I come, he does something to my toe, and I was fine to go. I had the time to go out and bowl and get this game for my team. It was just positive; it was just going out there and doing it. Sticking to the basics, hit the top of off. Even in the first Test, my plan for top of off-stump, and here too, I didn’t want to do anything different," he added.
“I really do, I feel like we have won the series, even if it is 1-1, we have won this series. It is really amazing for my teammates, they are really encouraging, I want to make them proud. It is tears in front of my eyes. I have already cried after my five-wicket haul, so I don’t want to cry here. It is just happiness that we have won this Test, I just want to celebrate and be happy.”
Two balls that was all that was left for Shamar, who bowled the perfect delivery to hit the top of off-stump, and wheeled off in celebration.
“I’m not tired because I want to do it for my team. It doesn’t matter how my toe is, I wanted to win the game for my team.”
Australia might have almost broken his toe, but Shamar Joseph has certainly broken Australia’s dreams.
