Australia hold shaky day-two lead as Travis Head return catch raises eyebrows

Australia will resume on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at 2-12 with a shaky 45-run lead.

The hosts were bowled out late on day two for 253, with the Aussies holding on to a 33-run first innings lead.

Faced with a tricky half-hour at the end of the day to survive, Windies quick Jayden Seales removed both Aussie openers.

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Sam Konstas was first to fall in the first over for a duck, when he dragged a wide one back onto his off-stump. It was the second time he had dragged a wide ball back onto his stumps in this series, and he was shaking his head as he walked off the pitch.

Two overs later, Seales had Khawaja out lbw for the third time this series. All of them have come in the same fashion – from around the wicket angling in.

The Grenada pitch gave glimpses it has some demons. Cameron Green was lucky to survive his first ball when it reared off a length and took the shoulder of his bat. It fell just short of the cordon.

Khawaja, too, was lucky not to be bowled when he had one skid through underneath his bat.

Night watchman Nathan Lyon and Green survived until stumps, although it appeared assisted by some gamesmanship from the Aussie off-spinner.

Lyon was hit in the shoulder as the clock ticked towards stumps, and he called the physio out for treatment. The delay was enough to ensure there would only be one ball left before stumps.

Earlier, the Aussie bowlers shared the workload pretty evenly on a day the Windies could easily have taken a big lead.

Opener John Campbell was looking comfortable when he came down the wicket and got a leading edge to a Beau Webster delivery and holed out to Mitchell Starc at mid-wicket.

After tea, Alzarri and Shamar Joseph took on the Aussie bowling, and belted 51 for the eighth wicket to chew into the deficit and frustrate the Aussies. Lyon eventually broke the partnership when Alzarri tried to hit him over the mid off boundary but only found Cameron Green.

Hazlewood, Cummins and Travis Head all took return catches. The two formers were the first two wickets to fall in the innings, and the latter closed the innings.

There remains some conjecture over whether or not the ball carried back to Head. The part-timer claimed the catch, but Windies No.10 Anderson Phillip stood his ground. Few of Head's teammates celebrated. The on-field umpires threw it upstairs.

Replays appeared to show the ball bounced, and it was unclear if Head's fingers were underneath. The third umpire declared it clean and the catch stood.

"That will be debated for some time," former Windies quick Kieron Pollard said in commentary.

Play will resume at midnight AEST Saturday.