West Indies were probably the undefeated team from the early 1970s until the late 1980s. They had around 7-8 legendary players at one time in their team. That was the reason they dominated this sport in ODIs and Tests, winning the first two ODI World Cups and dominating the longest format of the game as well.
However, the standard of cricket has declined in the last decade or so for the Caribbean team. After the retirement of those big names, they found it hard to fill those holes. West Indies has gone down many a times in this period and suffered some big defeats. Here, we will talk about their biggest test defeat in the history of test cricket.
Highest Win Margin in Test vs West Indies
Team | Margin | Target | Venue | Date |
Australia | 419 runs | 497 | Adelaide | 8 Dec 2022 |
Australia | 382 runs | 735 | Sydney | 14 Feb 1969 |
Australia | 379 runs | 509 | Brisbane | 3 Nov 2005 |
Australia | 352 runs | 462 | Melbourne | 26 Dec 2000 |
South Africa | 351 runs | 569 | Centurion | 15 Jan 1999 |
India | 318 runs | 419 | North Sound | 22 Aug 2019 |
Australia | 312 runs | 364 | Port of Spain | 5 Mar 1999 |
South Africa | 284 runs | 391 | Johannesburg | 8 Mar 2023 |
Australia | 277 runs | 392 | Kingston | 11 Jun 2015 |
England | 269 runs | 399 | Manchester | 24 Jul 2020 |
3. Australia (379 runs) vs West Indies in November 2005
The third-biggest test defeat for the Caribbean team came in November 2005 against Australia. It was the first test of West Indies’ tour of Australia in Birsbane. The visitors won the toss and decided to bowl first. Australia made 435 runs in their first inning coutesy of a century from skipper Ricky Ponting (149). But West Indies didn’t had any big innings from their batters. They got bowled out for 210 runs in 77 overs.
The hosts for a decent lead of 225 runs in their first inning. They batted again and scored 283/2 runs in 66 overs. Matthew Hayden scored 118 runs and Ponting (104*) scored another century. West Indies had a target of 509 runs to chase and they failed badly. The whole team got all out for 129 runs and lost the game by 379 runs.
2. Australia (382 runs) vs West Indies in February 1969
West Indies suffered their second biggest test defeat in February 1969. It also came against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was the the final game of the five-match series. Batting first, Australia scored a massive 619 runs in 152.7 overs in the first inning. Skipper Bill Lawry made 151 runs and Doug Walters (242) was the top scorer with a double hundred. In reply, the Caribbean team only played 77 overs.
They made 279 runs and conceded a lead of 340 runs. Australia didn’t force the follow-on and decided to bat again. They declared the second inning in 92 overs with 394/8 to give West Indies a target of 735 runs. Ian Redpath (132) and Doug Walters (103) scored hundreds for them. Chasing the target, the Caribbean team reached a score of 352 runs and lost the game by 382 runs.
1. Australia (419 runs) vs West Indies in December 2022
All top four big test defeats for West Indies came against Australia. The biggest one came most recently in December 2022 at the Adelaide Oval. It came in the second game of the two tests. Australia batted first after winning the toss. They had two centurions in Marnus Labuschagne (163) and Travis Head (175), who led Australia to 511/7d in 137 overs. West Indies tried hard but managed a total of 214 runs.
Australia got a first inning lead of 297 runs. They added another 199/6 in just 31 overs and declared the inning. In response to the target of 497 runs, West Indies surrendered and got all out for one of their lowest totals. They made only 77 runs in 40.5 overs. Australia registered a massive win by 419 runs.