THE LORD OF ALL HE SURVEYS... Brian Lara gets a round of applause as he leaves the field after the Adelaide Test. — Photo: AP

ADELAIDE: Matthew Hayden made an unbeaten 87 to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win in the third Test and a 3-0 sweep of the series against the West Indies on Tuesday.

Australia resumed at 76 for two and scored steadily until Mike Hussey (30 not out) hit the winning runs soon after lunch on the fifth and final day at the Adelaide Oval.

The Australians won the first Test by 379 runs and the second by nine wickets to make it 12-1 in the last 13 Tests against the West Indies.

Hayden, voted Player of the Series after scoring 445 runs at an average of 89, finished 13 runs short of becoming only the third batsman to post hundreds in five consecutive Test matches.

Only Sir Donald Bradman and South Africa's Jacques Kallis have achieved that milestone.

Lara surpasses

In the first innings, West Indies batting maestro Brian Lara scored 226 and surpassed former Australia skipper Allan Border as the most prolific run-scorer in Test cricket.

The 36-year-old Lara was named `man of the match' for scoring his eighth double hundred in Tests, which helped West Indies to 405 in the first innings.

Hayden congratulated fellow left-hander Lara, saying he gave other batsmen something to aspire about.

``I needed a few more runs to get a world record myself — unfortunately these things happen,'' said Hayden, who was on the brink of being dropped during the Ashes.

``It's been a challenging few months for all of us as a batting group, but we've come out of it with our heads held high.''

Fourth in a row

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his squad had regrouped since the Ashes loss to win four consecutive Tests — one against the World XI and three against the West Indies.

``We had three commanding wins in the end,'' said Ponting, adding that West Indies had improved with each match. ``It has been very evident to us that some of the young talent (West Indies) is coming through. Hopefully it will be nurtured well.''

Australia needed only 106 runs on the last day after Shane Warne took six for 80 and Brett Lee snared four for 46 to restrict the West Indies second innings to 204.

Brad Hodge (23) was the only wicket to fall on Tuesday, caught at gully by Dwayne Smith off Daren Powell's bowling after a 55-run partnership with Hayden. — AP

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