Windies Rolled Over After Catastrophic Collapse
Caribbean side humiliated by Australians to suffer ODI thrashing in just over three hours
West Indies cricket has gone from one extreme to another, after the Caribbean side finished a woeful second best to Australia to lose their ODI series with a whitewash 3-0 result. Having brilliantly seen off England last year in whiteball formats, and battled to a drawn Test series in Australia, the Windies were surprisingly outplayed in all three ODI games.
Following hefty defeats in the first two ODIs, the dead rubber was deemed to be an opportunity for cavalier cricket from the Windies.
Instead they were on the receiving end of a shameful defeat inside the Manuka Oval in Canberra. They played atrociously, with bat and ball, to end the series with their confidence well and truly dented.
Australia celebrated their milestone 1,000th ODI contest by remarkably racing to an eight wicket victory with 43.1 overs to spare, making a mockery of the Windies’ efforts.
The hosts, who won by eight wickets at the MCC in Melbourne and eased to victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground, made a poor start in Canberra.
Although they failed to capture early wickets, they restricted the Windies with a combination of tight bowling and sharp fielding. The Caribbean side were stuttering at the crease, and the rot set in after Sint Maarten’s Keacy Carty was dismissed in the 11th over to leave them at 38-2.
Dominican opener Alick Athanaze was back in the pavilion in the 20th over, having amassed a creditable 32 from 60 deliveries, as the Windies appeared fairly comfortable at 71-5.
The tourists were going through a collapse, their 15-ball debacle saw them score just three runs and lose six wickets, to be whittled out for 86 in a slow-scoring 24.1 overs.
Paceman Xavier Bartlett repeated his four-wicket haul that he achieved on his debut in the 1st ODI in Melbourne, including the important wicket of skipper and Bajan stalwart Shai Hope.
Set a target of just 87, the Australians savagely went on the attack to reel off the required runs in only 6.5 overs in just over three hours.
Openers Jake Fraser-McGurk (41 from 18 deliveries) and Josh Inglis (35 not out from 16 balls) notched 67 in the opening five overs, as they helped guide the hosts to their shortest-ever completed ODI match on home soil in under 31 overs.
The floodlights were not even required as the thumping victory was so rapid in the remarkably one-sided day-night clash.
Darren Sammy, West Indies’ one-day coach, admitted in his post-match press conference: “We are most disappointed in the way we’ve played. But it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon to 2027 [the ODI World Cup].
“What I will tell them in the dressing room is if you don’t display the attitude and the brand that we are looking for that will help us to become competitive, you will get left out.”
Harsh words will be required to get the Windies back on track before they face Australia in the three-match Twenty20 series that begins in Hobart on Friday.
TEST SERIES | West Indies drew with Australia 1-1
1st Test (16-18 January)
Australia won by 10 wickets
WI 188 all out (62.1 overs) & 120 all out (35.2 overs)
Australia 283 all out (81.1 overs) & 26-0 (6.4 overs)
2nd Test (25-28 January)
WI won by 8 runs
WI 311 all out (108 overs) & 193 all out (72.3 overs)
Australia 289-9 declared (53 overs) & 207 all out (50.5 overs)
ODI SERIES | Australia v West Indies
1st ODI (2 February)
Australia won by 8 wickets
WI 231 all out (48.4 overs)
Australia 232-2 (38.3 overs)
2nd ODI (4 February)
Australia won by 83 runs
Australia 258-9 (50 overs)
WI 175 all out (43.3 overs)
3rd ODI (6 February)
Australia won by 8 wickets
WI 86 all out (24.1 overs)
Australia 87-2 (6.5 overs)
T20I SERIES | Australia v West Indies
1st T20I (9 February) | Blundstone Arena, Holbart
2nd T20I (11 February) | Adelaide Oval
3rd T20I (13 February) | Perth Stadium
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