MELBOURNE, December 26: Skipper Steve Waugh rescued Australia with a fighting, unbeaten 98 on the first day of the fourth Test against West Indies on Tuesday. Having been put in to bat, Australia, 3-0 ahead in the five-match series, slipped to 149 for five. But they recovered to reach 295 for seven at the close. Most of the top-order batsmen got a start but, Waugh apart, none stayed to play a long innings as pacemen Courtney Walsh, Mervyn Dillon, Nixon McLean and debutant Colin Stuart shared the seven wickets. Australia were 225 for seven at one stage but Waugh, returning to the side after missing the third Test with a torn buttock muscle, found a staunch ally in Jason Gillespie. Gillespie made 14 not out in 100 minutes, playing the perfect foil to his skipper as they shared an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 70. Waugh's 98 came off 183 balls and included 13 fours. Veteran paceman Courtney West Indies made the initial breakthrough after his skipper Jimmy Adams had asked Australia to bat first. He claimed his 491st Test victim in the 16th over of the day when he had Matthew Hayden caught behind by the diving Ridley Jacobs for 13. Fellow opener Michael Slater, dropped at second slip by Sherwin Campbell off Dillon when he was nine, fell six runs later at 47 when Jacobs jogged around to backward square to catch an attempted pull shot off McLean. Slater made 30. Justin Langer and Mark Waugh effected a recovery with a third wicket stand of 54 but both fell within four runs of each other. Langer gave wicketkeeper Jacobs his third catch of the innings and Stuart his first wicket when he had made 31 and Waugh was caught in the gully by Adams off Dillon for 25. Ricky Ponting was next to go after hitting five fours in his 23. He was caught at deep backward square leg by Wavell Hinds off McLean after failing to get over the top of a pull shot. Steve Waugh and his vice-captain Adam Gilchrist added 61 off 111 balls for the sixth wicket before Gilchrist, on 37, cut a wide ball from Stuart to Campbell in the gully. Andy Bichel was dismissed shortly afterwards by Dillon for three, Jacobs taking his fourth catch of the day. (Reuters)AUSTRALIA (1st Innings): Slater c Jacobs b McLean 30; Hayden c Jacobs b Walsh 13; Langer c Jacobs b Stuart 31; M Waugh c Adams b Dillon 25; S Waugh batting 98; Ponting c Hinds b McLean 23; Gilchrist c Campbell b Stuart 37; Bichel c Jacobs b Dillon 3; Gillespie batting 14; Extras (lb 4, nb 17): 21; Total (for 7 wkts): 295 Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-47, 3-101, 4-105, 5-149, 6-210, 7-225. Bowling: Walsh 22-3-38-1, Dillon 17-2-68-2, McLean 19-4-60-2, Stuart 14-4-50-2, Samuel 14-0-56-0, Adams 4-0-19-0.
