Lyon bowls Australia close to win in series opener

Nathan Lyon spun Australia close to victory in the opening cricket Test against the West Indies at the Perth Stadium on Sunday.

Set 498 to win, and starting the day on 192-3, West Indies stumbled against Lyon to reach lunch on the final day at 257-7 with Australia needing three wickets to wrap up a victory in the first Test.

Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph were unbeaten on 13 and 15 runs respectively at the interval.

Skipper Kraigg Barthwaite top scored for the visitors with an obdurate 110 standing between West Indies and a meek capitulation.

Australia has two sessions and 62 overs to complete the formalities of a win in the series opener before heading to Adelaide for the second test, a day/night game, starting December 8.

West Indies comfortably placed at 207-3 early Sunday, lost four wickets in the space of 17 overs to slump to 233-7.

Lyon (4-81) claimed 2-5 in 15 balls to remove the overnight pair of Brathwaite and Kyle Mayers in the first hour of the day.

After Mayers (10) had edged a delivery that spun across him to Steve Smith at slip, Lyon got a delivery to turn sharply and beat Brathwaite all-ends-up to claim the prized wicket of the West Indies skipper.

Brathwaite had carried West Indies' hopes of salvaging a draw from a hopeless position but his fall broke the backbone of the tourists' resistance.

Brathwaite had defied Australia's vaunted bowling attack for just over five hours in scoring his 11th test ton in 80 test appearances and hit 14 boundaries off 188 balls.

Jason Holder (3) went for a big drive and edged to Smith at slip, who took a brilliant catch off part-time spinner Travis Head (1-11) tumbling to his left as the West Indies resistance nose-dived.

West Indies, once the powerhouse of world cricket, has not beaten Australia in 12 tests since beating Steve Waugh's side in the fourth test of a dead rubber under the captaincy of Brian Lara in Antigua in May 2003.

Man-of-the-match Marnus Labuschagne scored 204 in Australia's first innings of 598-4 declared and then an unbeaten 104 not out in the second innings, the first Australian to score a double-hundred and a century in the same match since Greg Chappell in 1974.

West Indies made 283 in its first innings.