West Indies vs Australia live: Second Test, day three from Grenada

It was slow, and at times painful, going in that session, but at the end of it Australia lost only nightwatchman Nathan Lyon and added 57 runs.

That’s a dream on this pitch with this batting line-up.

Cameron Green (31) Steve Smith (20) are looking solid out there, but every delivery feels fraught with peril right now. More than a few are staying low and there’s still movement off the seam for the bowlers.

Smith is also battling through a serious finger injury, which copped a knock off the first ball he faced.

We’re set up for a very interesting day here.

Smith is on strike. Green fell in the corresponding over in the first innings on day one.

He bangs it in short and Smith sways away, trying to uppercut over the slips but missing out. The third man/fly slip goes back, so I assume Smith will holster that shot.

A shocking short ball goes miles down leg and again Shai Hope does brilliantly to dive and get a hand to it. That looked like four byes for all money, but he’s kept it to just a single run.

A big LBW shout off the last ball before lunch! It stays very low, but umpire Adrian Holdstock isn’t interested. It was still too high.

No review, and that will be lunch.

Smith squirts a ball to point and has to send Green back to the non-striker’s end. Good to see the big man pushing for the run.

Phillip fires it in at Smith’s toes and it’s whipped away for another single.

Almost a mix-up! Green drives down the ground and Smith takes off, but he’s sent back and just manages to make his ground as the ball whizzes past his head.

Phillip oversteps, and that no ball takes Australia’s lead to 100 runs.

He’s hunting stumps, which the West Indies didn’t do enough early today.

Green turns a single to the leg side, too fine for the fielder at short leg.

They put the fielders around the corner for Smith and immediately go short, but Smith just hooks away for a single. It’s always a good tactic to Smith, but especially now if he’s at all hesitant with that right hand.

And let us not forget …

As he defends the first ball from Anderson Phillip, he hasn’t scored since the 19th over.

He breaks a run of 13 straight dot balls with a single to the off side to move to 27.

Smith sees out the over, defending and leaving and attacking with all his usual idiosyncracies.

Four! A little uppish but a perfectly placed drive by Steve Smith, too wide for the bowler and too straight for mid-off.

FOUR MORE. A little more width and this time he goes the other side of mid-off. Anderson Phillip makes a gallant leap on the boundary, but can’t stop it.

A lot of variable bounce out there. And once again Smith whips his glove off to take a look at his bandaged pinky. He might have had some painkillers too.

Smith helps himself to a couple more with a clip off his toes. I can’t imagine how much his right hand must be throbbing right now.

He makes a late decision to have a wild waft at a wide short ball and misses out. Would’ve been a horrendous dismissal had he got anything on it.

Shot, but just for a single as John Campbell does well at cover to stop a well timed shot from Smith.

Smith clips off his toes and takes two more.

He drives a half-volley back past Alzarri Joseph, and Shamar Joseph shows great speed to track the ball down just before the boundary.

A really tight leave from Green to a ball that just misses the off stump. This is really tough batting. This pitch is doing a lot, but the ball should lose some venom in a few overs if form is anything to go on, so Green needs to stay patient.

He already has two wickets, with 2-7 from his firs seven overs. Not a bad outing.

Green drives down the ground but Shamar Joseph gets around from mid-on to cut it off.

They’re really testing Green outside off, with the occasional ball fired in at the pads and stumps.

Seales tries for that surprise yorker, but it’s too far down leg. Shai Hope does well to stop it from flying away for four byes.

He’s reached his quarter-century.

Green throws his hansd at a wide ball and is lucky not to chop on, earning himself a single with an expertly played French cut. He needs to get a stride in and get closer to those balls.

And Smith gets off the mark with two through cover. I wonder if the pain in his finger will focus him. It happens quite often with injuries, and Smith is a great problem solver so he might see this as a new challenge.

A searing yorker is dug out by Cam Green, who almost takes a tumble in the process.

Green gets up the other end with a single behind point. He’s still playing a long way from his body.

Smith is furious with himself as he drives, but straight to the fielder at cover.

Green defends to the off side and Smith takes off from the non-striker’s end but there’s no run and Green sends him back.

Four! Good batting from Cameron Green, reacting quickly when Alzarri Joseph misses his length and gives him something short and wide to launch over backward point.

Full and wide from Joseph and Green is playing a long way away from his body. He gets three runs but not particularly convincingly off the outside half of the bat and a little uppish through cover.

And there’s four byes as a ball on a good length barely bounces, beating the toe of Green’s bat and wicketkeeper Shai Hope.

Another run through cover for Green, getting forward and pushing a drive.

Smith keeps out a ball that goes underground on him, and this one is right on the stumps. Really difficult conditions right now,

We didn’t get much of a look in the first innings, so let’s keep a close eye on how the finger is feeling.

OUCH! He’s copped a short ball on that busted right pinky straight away. And he can’t hide how much that hurt.

The next ball is speared in full and hits him on the pads, but sliding down leg.

Smith rips the glove off and flexes his hand. He’s in serious pain out there.

Back of a length and seaming away, Nathan Lyon pushes at it and gets a healthy edge towards third slip where John Campbell almost makes a meal of it, leaping and wrestling the catch in but ultimately completing the dismissal.

A double bowling change for the West Indies after the rain delay.

Plenty of movement away from Lyon, who’s poking around outside off.

Lyon plays a checked pull shot to a short ball and gets it through mid-wicket. Shamar Joseph tracks it down on the rope, as the Aussies add three valuable runs.

Green tries another back-foot drive but can’t time it and kicks the ball away from his stumps.

He finds the gap through forward point off the next ball. Two more for Green and Australia.

And again. Phillip offering a little too much width at the moment.

Cameron Green is back out there and leaving the first ball.

But he goes hard at the second (and final) ball, trying to clobber a pull shot and missing out completely.

Hooking and pulling will be tough on this pitch that is a bit up and down.