Glenn McGrath (4/31) in Hobart on Thursday. (Reuters)

Hobart: Australia seized immediate command of the second Test with the West Indies on Thursday, skittling the embattled tourists for a dismal 149 and then wiping out almost half the deficit without losing a wicket.

Glenn McGrath captured four wickets while Brett Lee and Stuart MacGill grabbed three each as the Australian bowlers ripped through the brittle West Indian batting line-up after tea on the opening day.

The Australians then cruised to 60 without loss to reach stumps trailing by just 89 runs with Matthew Hayden making 31 not out and Mike Hussey unbeaten on 26.

The West Indies, already 0-1 down in the three-match series after they were thrashed by 379 runs in Brisbane, showed none of the necessary fight needed to challenge the Australians as they collapsed to be all out inside 70 overs with the last seven wickets tumbling for just 30 runs.

Seven of the 11 West Indies players failed to reach double-figures and only Chris Gayle (56) and the captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (39) managed to make more than 15. The visitors wilted under the relentless pressure applied by the Australian bowling attack.

McGrath dismissed Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan (2), Marlon Samuels (5) and Fidel Edwards (0) to finish with figures of 4 for 31 while Lee removed Devon Smith (4), Brian Lara (13) and Darren Powell (15) to take 3 for 32. MacGill got rid of Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo (3) and Denesh Ramdin (2) in his 3 for 18.

Gayle initially retired on 18 after a recurrence of a minor heart problem that has troubled him for years but recommenced his innings after the lunch break and went on to post a half-century.

The Jamaican said he occasionally suffers from an irregular heartbeat and although the problem was not serious he was planning to have an operation after the series to fix it.

“Sometimes I get an irregular heartbeat when I tend to perspire a lot, it tends to race a bit harder than normal but it’s nothing to worry about.