Adelaide Test Match, 1961: The Times Report

The West Indies 1960-1961 tour of Australia was a highly charged and tightly fought series that began with a tied match at Brisbane, which Donald Bradman described as “the greatest mach of all time”. By the time of the fourth Test at Adelaide, the series was level at one apiece. The West Indies scored 393 in their first innings, thanks largely to a century by Rohan Kanhai, who was also to score a century in the second innings. The Australian batting was sluggish in comparison, and by the end of the second day they had scored only 221 for 4. This is the report of the third day’s play, from The Times on January 31, 1961, in which the West Indies moved into a winning position with a potentially match winning hat-trick from Lance Gibbs. It was only the 15th hat-trick in a Test match, and the first by a West Indian against the Australians. The West Indian batsmen piled on a lead of 440 and declared before the end of the fourth day. However, diligent and pugnacious Australian batting saw them hold out for the draw. Australia went on to win the final Test at Melbourne, by the slim margin of 2 wickets, to win the series 2-1.