The opener has struggled to get past 30 since his Test debut against India.
Australian youngster Sam Konstas has once again failed to make the most of his chances in Tests. His chain of poor outings continued as the opener departed for a four-ball duck in the second innings of the West Indies vs Australia second Test. Previously, he scored 25 runs in the first innings in Grenada.
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Sofia Stars beat CC Yullis-MU Trakia by 10 wickets
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Indonesia Women beat Singapore Womens by 18 runs (D/L) method
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The 19-year-old made the headlines in his red-ball debut against India. He put up a brilliant 60-run knock at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the Boxing Day Test during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series 2024-25. The management was looking towards him as the ideal successor of the great Australian opener, David Warner.
However, since his debut blitz, Konstas has seen a sharp decline in his form. His latest scores in the format read as — 0, 25, 5, 3, 22, 23 and 8. Further, the batter’s mode of dismissal last night has drawn plenty of criticism from former players and commentators. The 19-year-old failed to survive an approximate 40-minute batting session before the stumps of Day 2.
He was chopped down by a shorter outside off-stump delivery, by the Windies pacer Jayden Seales, in the first over of the innings. Former Australian player Greg Blewett pointed out Konstas’ lack of balance while playing the shot.
“Opening the batting in Test match cricket, there’s nowhere to hide. His feet aren’t planted and then he’s throwing his hands at the ball. After he makes contact, his feet are still moving, and that’s not ideal. That suggests to me things aren’t quite right with his balance,” stated Blewett while commentating on the match.
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However, star Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has come forward to support the young Aussie batter. Even after a series of batting failures, the seamer emphasised his own experience to bowl to the youngster and backed Konstas to swiftly turn things around in upcoming matches.
“He got thrown in a tough situation there. He’s such a quick learner. He’s trending in the right direction. Every time I’ve bowled to him in the last few months, he just keeps getting better and better,” opined Hazlewood.
The World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 runners-up, Australia, entered the match with a 1-0 lead over the West Indies. However, an impressive bowling performance from the entire bowling unit, headed by Alzarri Joseph’s four-wicket haul, bundled out the Aussies for 286. A 63-run knock from wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey and Beau Webster’s 60 was the only highlight of Australia in the first innings.
But the Aussies made a fierce comeback in the second innings. Last fixture’s debutant, Brandon King, notched up a gritty 75 runs off 108 deliveries. But veteran spinner Nathan Lyon’s three wickets guided Australia to thrash the Windies’ batting lineup for 253. After the end of Day 2, Australia are at 12/2 with a mere lead of 45 runs.
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