Pitch perfect

Australia coach Tim Nielsen praised the work of the Kensington Oval ground authority for the nature of the pitch for the third and final Test which started on Thursday, despite Australia closing the rain-shortened opening day ed on 226-7.

"I think right from the word "go" we saw the ball coming on to the bat and even all during the week in training the boys have really been enjoying the fact they can play a few shots and we've been talking about that a bit and we have tried to equate it to going from Sydney to Perth," said Nielsen.

"So we probably paid the penalty a bit for lapses in concentration at critical times, but also that's why it's great to watch cricket on these sorts of pitches.

"The margin for error is reduced so that the good players get runs and the good bowlers get wickets. That's what Test cricket is about, and I thought it was an intriguing day, and the game is evenly balanced."

Though Gayle praised his bowlers, he was disappointed that they let Australia back into the game after reducing them to 111 -5.

"The bowlers have been doing a terrific job for the last couple of Test matches and now we need to continue and just to finish off on a high," he said.

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