THERE have only ever been two realistic results for any Test of this series and, for the third time, West Indian hopes that they could hold out for the draw that is the limit of their ambitions against palpably superior opponents quickly came to nothing at Kensington Oval yesterday morning.
Australia got rid of Ramnaresh Sarwan, one of their main obstacles who had defied them for three hours, 50 minutes on the previous afternoon, with the day's first ball. They snared captain Brian Lara, the most serious threat of all who had been Sarwan's partner for two and a half hours while 93 were added, 16 balls later at which time the question was not if they would win, simply when.
The only resistance they encountered after that came from the sixth wicket partnership lasting two hours between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Omari Banks, the tall, 20-year-old Anguillan who handled his debut Test with the calmness of a veteran, before everything caved in with familiar haste after lunch.
The West Indies had the scant consolation of avoiding an innings defeat when their 21-year-old last wicket pair, Carlton Baugh and Jermaine Lawson, added 19 followed by the first ball dismissal of Justin Langer as Australia went back in needing eight to win.
It gave the big Jamaican fast bowler a hat-trick, following his two wickets with successive balls that ended Australia's first innings. He joined Wes Hall, Lance Gibbs and Courtney Walsh, whose feat was also split between innings, as West Indians who had taken three-in-three in Tests - and Hall, now board president, was there to watch it.
The Australians had their desired result, by nine wickets, 20 minutes before tea and, within minutes, had gathered on the slow, dry, heavily criticised pitch for their bonding ritual that involved the singing of their team song, "Under the Southern Cross".
Soon the outfield at Kensington was a sea of yellow shirts and waving Australian flags as the hundreds of fans who had come in for the game - and whose presence has been a welcome boost to the economy - sprouted from the stands.
Their West Indian counterparts simply drifted sadly away, having witnessed the first time any touring team had completed three successive victories in a series in the Caribbean.
There is now the distinct possibility, if not certainty, that they will go on to make it an unprecedented clean sweep over the West Indies. It is a record they aim to claim in the fourth and final match that starts in Antigua on Friday.
The West Indies' latest defeat, their ninth in succession against Australia, dating back to 1999, was predicated when captain Lara chose to bowl on winning the toss in spite of an inviting pitch and an attack manned by four bowlers with nine Tests between them.
Once Australia amassed 605 for nine declared and they were forced to follow-on 277 runs in arrears on the fourth morning, the West Indies' only goal was to hold on for a draw.
The optimism that Sarwan and Lara would carry on from where they left off immediately vanished once the umpires changed the out of shape ball of the previous day and MacGill twirled his first delivery with it.
Sarwan, seemingly unprepared for one pitching on a full length, missed a weak forward defensive stroke and was quickly ruled lbw by umpire Venkataraghavan.
The tv replay raised some doubt over whether the leg-break might not have spun past off-stump but, by the standards of some of the decisions earlier in the series, it was not clear enough to be worth arguing about.
That left the issue in the hands of Lara and Chanderpaul, the two batsmen in the team best qualified by experience, skill and temperament to handle the assignment. The credentials of those to follow did not merit consideration.
The final nail was hammered into the coffin when Lara, who had added only a single, moved across his stumps to force the bustling Andy Bichel through mid-wicket. He missed and umpire David Shepherd gave an uncontestable lbw decision, the fourth of the innings.
That the body was not finally buried until just before the second interval was due almost entirely to another heartening innings, of 32, by Banks and the two hours he and Chanderpaul spent on either side of lunch adding 61.
Banks had the chastening experience of conceding 204 runs from his 40 overs (with three wickets) in the Australian innings, more than any bowler on debut.
It could well have broken the spirit of one so young. Instead, he seemed to take it in his stride and, as in the first innings, batted with common sense and enterprise.
His bat is straight and he drives confidently, once lifting MacGill to the overhead boundary, a stroke that earned him runs in the first innings as well. The West Indies have searched for some time for a competent spin bowler who knows which end of the bat to hold and, if he is still a mere babe at this level, there is clearly something to work with.
Once Banks' defensive push at the always threatening MacGill edged a catch to first slip, the habitual late order collapse followed, four wickets tumbling for nine runs in six overs, three to MacGill who added five to the four he claimed in the first innings and was named Man of the Match.
Immediately on Banks' departure, Chanderpaul carelessly fished at one of Jason Gillespie's less serious deliveries in the next over and feathered a catch to Adam Gilchrist while MacGill bamboozled Vasbert Drakes to bowl him through his legs and offered up a long long-hop that Tino Best pulled into mid-wicket's lap.
Another 12 were then needed to make Australia bat again and the 21-year-old fledglings, Baugh and Lawson, made sure they did by adding 19 for the last wicket that included a couple of fours and a meaty slog-sweep for six off MacGill by the feisty Baugh.
It took the run out of Baugh to end the innings after which Lawson made his mark.
By then, Australian celebrations were already under way.