Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo (right) and teammates celebrate the wicket of Australia's Brad Haddin on yesterday's fourth day of the first Digicel Home Series Test at Sabina Park. Bravo ended with figures of four for 47.

The first Test match between the West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park comes to an end today. after four days of high drama during which the honours swayed from side to side like a pendulum, it appears heading for a tight finish with the Aussies, or the Kangaroos, tipped to win and to go one-up in the battle for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy.

At stumps yesterday, at 4:20 when bad light stopped play on another absorbing and exciting day's play, the scoreboard read, Australia 431 and 167, the West Indies 312 and 46 for one off 18 overs, and with the home team needing another 241 runs to win, with the visitors needing nine wickets to win, and with the teams having a minimum of 90 overs, one to get the runs, the other to get wickets, it is a safe bet that barring rain, one of them will win.

Who will it be?

The question, however, is this: who will it be - will it be the West Indies for only the fourth time at Sabina Park, or, also for the fourth time at Sabina Park, will it be Australia?

With Devon Smith and captain Ramnaresh Sarwan at the crease and batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, and Dwayne Bravo to come, and despite the middle-order collapse in the first innings, the target, under normal conditions and despite an attack that includes a fast bowler like Brett Lee and a big-spinning right-arm leg-spinner like Stuart MacGill, should be within reach of the West Indies.

The problem, however, is the pitch.

From day one, the bounce of the ball has been unpredictable. The reading is that it will be worse on today's fifth and final day, and apart from the brittle West Indies batting which depends so much on the fortunes of Chanderpaul, that is one reason, the main reason, why the odds are on Australia to win.

If Australia go on to win the game, they will have to thank, not only captain Ricky Ponting for his first innings 158, not only Andrew Symonds for his first innings 70 not out, but Symonds again for another valiant effort.
West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards is pumped up after capturing the wicket of Australia's Brett Lee at Sabina Park yesterday. Edwards took three for 40 in Australia's second innings to end with match figures of eight for 144. - photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Resuming at 17 for four before dropping to 18 for five when, in the morning's first over, night watchman Mitchell Johnson fell to pacer Daren Powell, Australia, in their worse start since 1936 against England at the Woolloongabba in Brisbane when they skidded to 16 for five and then to 20 for six on their way to 58, were in serious trouble and in danger of being blown away for their lowest score against the West Indies when Symonds joined the action and proceeded to beat back the home team.

In taking Australia, thanks to the support from Brad Hodge who scored 27 before he was brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin off Bravo at 70 for six, and to Brad Haddin who scored 23 before he was magnificently caught by Morton at short extra-cover off Bravo at 144 for seven, past their record low of 76 against the Windies in Perth in 1984, Symonds played some glorious strokes before he swung at Bravo and was caught by Morton coming off the long-off boundary for 79 at 166 for nine.

Symonds batted for 222 minutes, he faced 118 deliveries, and he hit nine fours and three sixes - all off off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth in two overs after lunch.

Bowling for the West Indies, Powell, with three for 36 off 15 overs, was good, and in following up his first innings five-wicket haul with three for 40 off 16 fiery overs, so too was Fidel Edwards.

The pick of the bowlers for the West Indies, however, was Bravo - the medium-pacer who finished with four for 47 off 18.5 overs after one spell in which he bowled 16 overs and took two for 34, and another, one over apart, in which he took two for 13 off 2.5 overs.

Left with a victory target of 287 runs with a possible 43 overs plus all of today in which to get them, the West Indies, hunting their second consecutive victory against Australia at Sabina Park following their 10-wicket win in 1999, and their first victory against the world champions since their world record performance at the Antigua Recreation Ground in 2003, lost an early wicket.

Left-handed Smith and the right-handed Brenton Parchment, started cautiously but confidently before Parchment, going back and playing defensively, edged pacer Stuart Clark to wicketkeeper Haddin and departed the scene for 15 at 22 for one in the eighth over.

With Sarwan stroking the ball nicely, however, and Smith hitting the ball sweetly, going back and pulling left-handed pacer Johnson to the mid-wicket boundary, the West Indies looked good and ready for the fight.