West Indies take honors on 1st day of day-night 3rd test against Australia

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — The West Indies produced another dominant day with the ball against a fragile Australia batting lineup and then survived a tense final hour Saturday to take the honors after the first day of the day-night third test.

Shamar Joseph took four wickets, with Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales taking three apiece, as the West Indies pace attack took full advantage of the seam and pitch conditions once the lights were turned on at Sabina Park to bowl Australia out for 225.

The hosts then survived an evening onslaught from 100-test veteran Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, for just the loss of Kevlon Anderson to Starc, to be 16-1 at the close.

Earlier, 19-year-old Sam Konstas' tough tour continued as he was the only wicket to fall in the opening session after Australia had won the toss and elected to bat. Konstas labored to 17 from 53 balls before he was snared lbw by Greaves (3-56).

Usman Khawaja didn't fare much better as he fell for a scratchy 23 from 92 balls until he was spectacularly caught behind by Shai Hope to give Shamar Joseph (4-33) his first wicket of the day.

Cameron Green (46) and Steven Smith (48) steadied the ship for the Baggy Greens with a 61-run partnership, but both were dismissed in quick order just before milestones.

Unlike the first two tests in Barbados and Grenada, Australia's middle order didn't fire with Head (20), Webster (one) and Carey (21) all falling cheaply as the lights were turned and the ball began hooping and swinging about.

Seales (3-59) then returned to pick up Cummins (24), who holed-out in the deep looking for his third six in the over and Starc went for a duck in his milestone 100th test.

Shamar Joseph got a deserved fourth wicket when he had Josh Hazlewood caught at deep point to see the tourists lose their last seven wickets for 68 runs in yet another unconvincing batting display.

“Every pitch has been tough,” Green said after play. "It was a real grind. Usman batted well and never looked in. Steve Smith looked like he batted on a different pitch again.

“We wanted to give them a tricky 45 minutes at the end and I thought they batted beautifully.”

King and Anderson had the unenviable task of opening the batting for the hosts under lights with Mikyle Louis and John Campbell both unavailable to bat after taking blows in the field during Australia’s first innings.

After Starc, who relishes bowling with the pink ball, didn't have to wait long to get his 396th test wicket when he found the stumps between the gap of Anderson's (3) bat and pad.

But captain Chase and King dug in grimly and survived a number of close calls to see the hosts through to stumps and take the honors after the first day.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was dropped for the first time in 12 years as the tourists opted for an all-pace attack with the pink ball at Sabina Park.

Scott Boland was brought in beside usual attack trio of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood.

The West Indies, on the other hand, broke up its all-pace attack from Grenada by recalling left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican at the expense of quick Anderson Phillip.

Also, opening batter Kraigg Brathwaite was dropped following his 100th test in Grenada after scores in the series of 4, 4, 0, 7. He was replaced by Louis, while Guyana's Anderson debuted at No. 3 in the order after displacing Keacy Carty.

Starc is playing his 100th test, the 16th Australian to the landmark. After taking Anderson's wickets under lights at Sabina Park, he's now just four wickets away from a career 400.

Australia's bowlers have dominated the series after winning the first two tests — by 159 runs in Barbados then by 133 runs in Grenada — to secure the Frank Worrell Trophy.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Mitchell Starc appeals on day one of the third Test cricket match against West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Kevlon Anderson is bowled by Australia's Mitchell Starc on day one of the third Test cricket match at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Australia's Steve Smith plays a shot against West Indies on day one of the third Test cricket match at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Australia's Mitchell Starc is bowled by West Indies' Jayden Seales on day one of the third Test cricket match at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Shamar Joseph celebrates taking the wicket of Australia's Beau Webster, right, on day one of the third Test cricket match at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)