Chanderpaul, Barath set to miss Perth Test
PERTH, Australia (CMC) — Injury seems set to rule batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Adrian Barath out of the deciding third Test today (last night Caribbean time), thrusting Travis Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine into action.
The experienced Chanderpaul is nursing a finger injury from the Adelaide second Test while Barath hurt his hamstring, and West Indies captain Chris Gayle said neither of them looked good at training yesterday.
“It’s not looking too good for us… it’s a big blow for us going into the final Test match,” Gayle said.
Dowlin, who appeared in the first Test when Ramnaresh Sarwan was hurt, is poised to partner Gayle at the top of the batting order and Deonarine is preparing to replace Chanderpaul.
West Indies trail 0-1 in the series after being badly beaten in the first Test.
The Caribbean side rallied to dominate the drawn second Test and Gayle is retaining an upbeat attitude in spite of their injury woes.
“The momentum is still there. We’ve lost two key players, it would have been nice to have them around, but that’s not the case. But, we’re still ready for it, we are up for it,” he said.
The Australians have also been hit by injury.
The uncapped pacer Clint McKay gets into the team after Peter Siddle failed to overcome the hamstring injury that bothered him in Adelaide.