West Indies were 252–8 at the end of the first day, after Australia won the toss and asked them to bat. Though all of the dismissed batsmen reached double figures, none could go on to make a substantial score. The best partnership was between Sobers and Lashley, who took the score from 107–4 to 200–5, after which three more wickets fell fairly quickly. When Benaud put West Indies in, he may have hoped that the heavy atmosphere would help Davidson, but for once he was not that effective and the spinners did much of the damage.