Hobart: Adam Voges hammered 174 and Shaun Marsh hit 139 in an unbroken partnership of 317 runs to take Australia to a commanding 438 for three at the close of play on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies, here, at the Bellerive Oval. 

The hosts, in any case, are overwhelming favourites to win the three-match series. But for a slight wobble when they lost Steve Smith (10) and David Warner (64) before lunch, they simply dominated the visitors. Their unbroken stand was Australia’s third highest of all time against West Indies, for any wicket.

West Indies had spoken of targeting what they perceived as a weakness in Australia’s middle order, but the 30-plus Western Australians in Voges and Marsh sent them straight back to the drawing board by batting through the last two sessions. “I’ve batted with Vogesy a lot of times for WA and to have that partnership today was pretty special,” Marsh said. 

“I knew that if we just ground them down, we could score some runs at the end of the day. Vogesy batted really well and got me going, and I’m really happy that we both got hundreds.” 

Voges, who made his debut against West Indies in Roseau earlier this year, secured his third century in 11 Tests off exactly 100 deliveries from the penultimate ball before tea. Marsh matched him with his own third Test century deep into the final session, pulling the 150th delivery he had faced through square leg for his ninth four to reach the milestone for the first time on home soil. 

His partner did not allow Marsh to hog the limelight for long, however, and a reverse sweep for three runs soon brought up Voges’s first 150 in the longest form of the game.