AFP, HOBART: Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh pounded tons in a triple-century unbroken stand to crush the dispirited West Indies and put Australia in immediate command of the first Test in Hobart on Thursday. In a grim foreboding of what lies ahead for the Caribbean tourists in the three-Test series, Australia cruised to 438 for three at stumps on the opening day with
the West Australian pair taking the game away from the Windies. It was the most runs scored by Australia on an opening day of a Test in 85 years against the West Indies. At the close, Voges was unbeaten on 174 with Marsh not out 139 in a unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 317.
Voges slammed the fastest century for Australia in Hobart, his ton coming off 100 balls and eclipsing another West Australian Adam Gilchrist’s hundred off 110 balls against Pakistan in 1999.
It was Voges’s third Test century and second against the West Indies after scoring an unbeaten 130 on his Test debut in Dominica last June. Marsh, in scoring his third Test century and first at home also posed a dilemma for selectors about whether he will make way for the imminent return of Usman Khawaja from a hamstring injury.