BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – West Indies achieved the highest fourth innings total at Kensington Oval, but Australia still completed a comfortable victory by 87 runs on the fifth day of the third Digicel Test on Monday.

Set a mountainous target of 475, West Indies put in a fighting performance before they were dismissed for 387 after resuming the final day on 235 for three.

Their effort bettered England’s 313 in 1954 that was the previous highest total in the fourth innings of a Test at the ground.

The victory gave Australia a 2-0 series win to confirm their status as the world’s No. 1 team in Test cricket.

After Xavier Marshall’s stroke-filled 85 set West Indies on the way during the fourth day, an exciting fourth wicket century partnership between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo raised hopes of an unlikely victory.

Those hopes were dashed when Chanderpaul and Bravo were dismissed in quick succession and Australia went on to win 23 minutes before tea.

The cavalier Bravo stroked 69 that included five fours and four sixes, while Chanderpaul, who fell for 50, became the fourth West Indian batsman to reach 8,000 Test runs.

To the delight of a noisy last day crowd which came through the gates with reduced prices, the pair added 122 for the fourth wicket before they were dismissed in successive overs.

Bravo was especially severe on left-arm wrist spinner Beau Casson who was lifted for three sixes over extra-over. The debutant, however, had the final say when Bravo gave a catch to silly-point after batting for 163 minutes and facing 133 balls.

Chanderpaul joined fellow West Indians Brian Lara, Vivian Richards and Garfield Sobers in the 8,000-run club when he reached 49.

The landmark was met with warm applause around the ground but there was disappointment when he was adjudged lbw on the back foot to fast bowler Stuart Clark though replays indicated the batsman might have been struck too high.

Chanderpaul batted for 201 minutes, faced 131 balls and hit five boundaries.

Clark, who also removed Denesh Ramdin in the post-lunch session, finished with three for 58 in 24 overs, while Casson, who added the wicket of Sulieman Benn, ended with three for 86 from 25 overs.

West Indies went to lunch at 316 for five with Ramdin and Jerome Taylor together in a sixth wicket partnership that was eventually worth 42.

Taylor contributed a purposeful 31 and after Ramdin was lbw to Clark for 13, he was joined by the injured Sewnarine Chattergoon.

Chattergoon, who damaged his left ankle in the field on Saturday, batted with a runner and looked at ease before he was adjudged to have edged a catch to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin off pacer Brett Lee.

Prior to the dismissal of Ramdin, Taylor fell for his highest Test score when he edged a catch to Haddin off left-armer Mitchell Johnson.

Benn fell immediately after Chattergoon by giving a catch to extra-cover from a big hit against Casson and Australia wrapped up the match at 2:17 p.m. when Lee had Darren Powell caught at the wicket.

Opener Simon Katich, who made 157 in Australia’s second innings, was named Man-of-the-Match, while Chanderpaul was Man-of-the-Series for an aggregate of 442 runs.

The two teams will have three days’ break before meeting in a Twenty20 International at Kensington Oval on Friday..