Waugh salutes Bichel

Bichel (right) came to Australia's rescue yet again

Match report

Photos from Trinidad

Captain Steve Waugh has singled out Andy Bichel as the key man in Australia's victory in the second Test against the West Indies.

Bichel, a star for Australia in the World Cup earlier this year, took three crucial middle-order wickets for just 21 runs as the home side threatened to get back into the match.

The win means Australia retain the Frank Worrell Trophy for Test series between the two teams as they cannot now be beaten in the four-match series.

Match scorecard

Waugh said: "I thought Andy Bichel's spell was crucial. Those three wickets after lunch really turned it around for us because at that point the game was probably 50-50.

"The West Indies would have thought they were a chance of winning the game, so it was a couple of handy wickets there."

Bichel - who is playing because star bowler Glenn McGrath had to return home to be with his wife, who has cancer of the hip - removed Ramnaresh Sarwan (34), Marlon Samuels (1) and David Bernard (4).

I knew it was going to be tough to take the wickets and sometimes you need to set your side a bit of a challenge

Steve Waugh
Australia captain

Waugh had set the West Indies an improbable 407 to win with a declaration on the penultimate day but the tourists were made to battle by Brian Lara, who scored an inspirational century.

Lara helped his team move from 107-3 overnight to 210-3 at lunch.

Playing with his typical fluency, the left-hander lashed 13 fours and one six from 208 deliveries in five hours before he was caught at slip by Matthew Hayden off spin bowler Stuart MacGill for 122.

Vice-captain Sarwan added 106 for the fourth wicket with Lara before falling just after the interval to a miscued pull.

"We are batting well as a team but it is the bowling that is of concern," said Lara.

"We are still allowing the Australians to score too quickly, and once we learn to curb this we will be all right."

Waugh added: "It was a really good performance here, it was difficult to take 20 wickets on a very flat pitch.

"I made the declaration because I wanted to have a lot of overs at the West Indies batsmen.

"I knew it was going to be tough to take the wickets and sometimes you need to set your side a bit of a challenge.

"Four hundred and seven runs was gettable from the West Indies' point of view, but for us we needed to get fired up, that was the challenge that was required."

McGrath has returned to the Caribbean and is expected to play in the third Test, which starts on 1 May in Bridgetown, Barbados.