Australia put down stubborn Windies

West Indies showed more fight with the bat on day three of the Boxing Day Test but Australia remain well on their way to a series-sealing second win.

Windies batsmen Darren Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite returned to the crease on Monday with the score at 91-6 in the hope of producing a respectable knock to give West Indies some much-needed credibility in the series.

The first session proved slow, but Bravo (81) and Brathwaite (59) produced a 90-run partnership to help their team to a final score of 271 as the Australian attack slowly broke down the remaining wickets.

Nathan Lyon (4-66) and James Pattinson (4-72) shared the four wickets over two sessions, with Lyon taking his second caught and bowled of the innings when he snared Braithwaite’s wicket in the 72nd over.

Kemar Roach (22) was next in and next out after being trapped lbw by Pattinson, before Lyon got his second of the day when wicketkeeper Peter Nevill caught Jerome Taylor (15) behind.

Pattinson finished the Windies when he took Bravo’s well-defended wicket, as West Indies’ top-scorer sliced the ball to Australian captain Steve Smith.

Despite a lead of 280 runs, Smith did not enforce the follow on and sent his side out to increase the lead, giving the bowlers a well-deserved break.

Australia finished the day at 179-3, with Smith (70 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (18 not out) at the crease.

Joe Burns was not able to build on a terrific first innings and was caught at second slip by Brathwaite off a lovely ball from captain Jason Holder.

Fellow opener David Warner did not fare much better, as Holder caught him off a Brathwaite ball in the 11th over at just 17 runs, before Usman Khawaja (56) powered to a half century to put on a 77-run third-wicket partnership with Smith.

Khawaja could not see out the day, caught behind by Windies keeper Denesh Ramdin.

Australia head into day four with a lead of 459 runs as they look to close out the series with a second-straight win.