Tame Tourists Slump To T20I Series Defeat Down Under
Windies’ lacklustre display against Australia bodes badly ahead of next week’s World Cup campaign
Nicholas Pooran saw his West Indies troops give up the fight they showed in their previous T20I encounter. The West Indies, in their last game ahead of next week’s T20 World Cup campaign, lacked any guile as they tasted a 31-run defeat to Australia today.
Having won the toss and kept the hosts contained to 178-7, the Windies’ response was lame. The tourists lost wickets too regularly and they often looked in danger of being bowled out cheaply, only to survive the 20-over onslaught and finish perilously short of the target on 147-8.
After the tourists were involved in Wednesday’s thriller inside Carrara’s Metricon Stadium, narrowly beaten by three wickets on the penultimate ball, there were high hopes of an audacious response.
However, that Gold Coast defeat was widely expected as seven of the Windies’ squad had only landed in Australia just over 24 hours before their 1st T20I clash.
It was surprising that they looked more rusty at The Gabba in Brisbane, despite conditions favouring the batsman and the team boasting a plethora of respected six-hitters.
Following on from Wednesday’s previous close encounter, coupled with the honour of being the only team to have defeated Australia in T20I format at The Gabba – back in 2013 – then confidence was high before the match.
Australian opener David Warner stole the show with his steady knock of 75, while his partners at the crease faltered until power-hitter Tim David joined him after a trio of wickets fell for a measly five runs. Their partnership saw a brief sixth-wicket stand of 56 with David (42) trapped leg before by the pace of left-armer Obed McCoy.
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph finished with impressive figures of 3-21, capturing the wicket of gutsy wicketkeeper Matthew Wade (16) thanks to Kyle Mayers’ catch.
But it was Mayers who was sent back to the pavilion in the first over. The Windies wobbled throughout their innings with only wicketkeeper Johnson Charles (29), Akeal Hosein (25) and Brandon King (23) making much impact.
Mitchell Starc’s inswingers saw him take the first and last wickets of the innings, Mayers and Odean Smith his respective victims, to finish with figures of 4-20 as the tourists tamely stuttered along to reach 147-8.
Pooran admitted: “They played better cricket than us. Our bowlers did well to pull them back and keep them to below 180, but we lost wickets in the middle overs.
“As a group we are understanding how to play in these conditions and are playing like a team. It’s an important week coming up for us, so by the time of the World Cup qualifiers we will be ready.”
The Windies will warm-up for the T20 World Cup in just over a week’s time, with matches against UAE and the Netherlands aiming to fine-tune their squad.
Yet they will certainly need to be much more clinical than this dismal display when they face Scotland in their opening World Cup qualifier if they are to have a shot at glory this year.
1st T20I | Australia beat WI by 3 wickets
WI 145-9 (20 overs)
Australia 146-7 (19.5 overs)
2nd T20I | Australia beat WI by 31 runs
Australia 178-7 (20 overs)
WI 147-8 (20 overs)
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