Australia completed a men’s T20I five-match series whitewash for the first time as they reeled in their target of 171 with three wicket in hand and 18 balls to spare in the final T2o of the series in St Kitts.
A swashbuckling 63-run partnership in just 28 balls by Mitchell Owen (37 off 17 balls) and player of the series Cameron Green (32 off 18) broke the back of the run chase after player of the match Ben Dwarshuis (3/41 off 4 overs) led the way with the ball with three wickets.
The victory caps off a superb tour for the Australians, winning all eight matches they have played, and was a fantastic way to celebrate Adam Zampa’s 100th T20I.
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Tim David’s breath-taking knock of 30 off 12, including four sixes, and Aaron Hardie’s unbeaten 28 off 25 were also pivotal in the Australian run chase that overcame an early wobble of being 3/25 after just 2.2 overs.
The Australian batters showed off their immense hitting power once again at Warner Park, highlighted by Owen’s 96 metre monster six off Jediah Blades that sailed over wide long on and onto the grandstand roof.
It was also a performance that demonstrated their impressive depth with all six Australian bowlers taking a wicket after captain Mitchell Marsh continued his extraordinary run of winning tosses as he opted to bowl first for the fifth straight match.
Marsh could not help but chuckle as his correct call meant Australia won all eight tosses on this tour, a freakish one in 256 chance of happening.
MATCH CENTRE: West Indies vs Australia fifth T20 live scorecard
Adam Zampa celebrated his 100th T20I appearance with impressive figures of 1/20 from three overs.
The leg spinner is only the fourth Australian men’s player to reach the milestone alongside Glenn Maxwell, David Warner and Aaron Finch.
“I don’t think there’s a more influential player in this Australian team than Adam Zampa,” Brad Haddin said on ESPN’s coverage.
“This man is the most important bowler in the Australian cricket team. Under pressure, the ball goes to him, he can bowl in all three fazes of the game
“He can now put his name up with some of our great bowlers … Shane Warne, Brad Hogg, he’s right up there.”
WINDIES MISSED A TRICK?
The required run rate was never a problem for Australia throughout their run chase, but wickets falling put the visitors firmly under the pump.
Glenn Maxwell (0 off 1 ball), Josh Inglis (10 off 5) and Mitchell Marsh (14 off 8) fell within the space of eight balls of each other to leave Australia in trouble at 3/25 after 2.2 overs.
Tim David (30 off 12) briefly went berzerk again, launching four sixes before an excellent, sliding catch at deep square leg from Shimron Hetmyer sent him on his way with the score at 4/60 after 4.4 overs.
It was time for the West Indies to put their feet on the throats of the Australians with their two premier fast bowlers on fire.
Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph did the early damage with two pickets apiece, but having bowled two overs each as well, captain Shai Hope opted to save some of their overs for later.
It was a decision Hope was ultimately left to rue as fellow seamers Jediah Blades, Matthew Forde and Romario Shepherd were smashed to all parts of Warner Park by Mitchell Owen (37 off 17) and Cameron Green (32 off 18).
The unusual tactic of the right arm seamers to bowl around the wicket and taking the pace off the ball worked in the previous game but proved ineffective this time as Owen and Green combined for a partnership of 63 in just 28 balls.
An over from Forde went for 22 as Owen plundered back-to-back sixes to finish it, while Blades conceded 21 from the very next over.
Former Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin believed Hope made a huge captaincy blunder with his choice of bowlers.
“I feel like they missed a trick,” Haddin said on commentary for ESPN.
“Two most senior fast bowlers were both on a heater, wanting to get into the contest. They had two wickets each.
“Sometimes you just have to go with that gut feel, (rather than being) worried about what’s going to happen in four overs time.”
Haddin added at the end of Forde’s 22-run over: “Alzarri Joseph, he looks unhappy because he should be bowling.”
The introduction of spin in the tenth over of the innings brought about the breakthrough in the end as Owen fell to Akeal Hosein.
A simple catch looped to short third off Owen’s outside edge in just Hosein’s second delivery after Australian spinners Adam Zampa (1/20 off three overs) and Glenn Maxwell (1/6 off one over) were effective.
But the damage was done, as Australia needed only 48 runs from 64 balls when Owen walked off and Aaron Hardie joined Green in the middle.
To rub further salt into the West Indians’ wounds, when Joseph was reintroduced the next over, he hobbled off the ground with an injury concern after just one more delivery.
Shepherd was given the responsibility of finishing off the over, and it went for 14.
Hosein then removed Green the very next over and proved the point to his captain that he should have been introduced earlier.
The left arm spinner finished with 3/17 from four overs.
AUSSIE SEAMERS QUEUE UP FOR WC BERTH
Australia’s four seamers who featured in the final match of the series are giving selectors the right kind of headaches.
Barring injury, it is all but certain that Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will feature in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February and March.
But Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshius, Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis are all putting their best foot forward to be in the squad for the global tournament.
Hardie (1/39 off 4 overs) and Dwarshius (3/41 off 4) were excellent with the new ball, taking three wickets between them and conceding just 23 runs in the first four overs of the West Indies innings.
They got hit around later in the innings but picked up key wickets with Dwarshius dismissing openers Brandon King, who was dropped by Glenn Maxwell off Hardie, and Shai Hope in the powerplay before removing top scorer Shimron Hetmyer (52 off 31) later in the innings.
Outside of the powerplay, Abbott and Ellis were impressive.
Abbott was miserly with figures of 1/30 off 4 overs as his cutters and slow balls into the pitch proved effective.
All four pacemen offer an all-round option with handy lower order runs, as well as being good in the field.
But Ellis appears to be ahead of the others in the queue.
The skillful Tasmanian finished with 2/32 off 3.2 overs and finished the innings with an athletic run out off his own bowling.
Ellis played in group stage matches in last year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies as the ‘Big Three’ rested and rotated but was left out of the side for the super eight contests against Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India.
Former Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin believes that might change next time after marvelling at Ellis’ trickery with his slower balls.
“Ellis could play ahead of one of those three fast bowlers (Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood) in those conditions,” Haddin said on commentary for ESPN.
Haddin later added: “You don’t win ICC events with just 11 players, and that’s something Australia are building really nicely.”
MAXI’S ROLLERCOASTER NIGHT
Dropping an easy catch and making a golden duck are two of the worst feelings in cricket, and Glenn Maxwell experienced them both in the same game.
Maxwell’s catching heroics were a key factor in his player of the match performance in game four, but the Victorian was humbled early in the West Indies innings as he grassed a chance that would rarely go to ground in a club match.
Fielding at mid on, West Indies opener Brandon King picked out Maxwell off the bowling of Aaron Hardie and appeared resigned to his fate before being caught by surprise that the white ball hit the turf.
King was not the only with former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin saying on commentary for ESPN, “this is a shock”.
“I can’t remember the last time Glenn Maxwell put a catch down,” Haddin continued.
He added of Maxwell: “He cannot believe it.”
Maxwell indicated that the ball dipped and swerved on him, but thankfully for the Australians the drop was not too costly with King falling to Ben Dwarshuis in the very next over with only six more runs on the scoreboard.
It looked like Jediah Blades would return the favour when he juggled, but ultimately hung onto, the catch to send Maxwell on his way first ball.
Maxwell was not in a rush to walk off, waiting for the video replay to ensure there was no grass touching the ball, but his hopes of a reprieve were denied.
His thick outside edge sailed to Blades at short third off the bowling of Jason Holder, and it may have brought an end to his time at the top of the order.
Maxwell insisted before game that he was keeping Travis Head’s opening spot warm for the absent left-hander, and the Australians clearly had in mind Maxwell’s ability to target spin in the powerplay when they made the move for the second game of this series.
But the West Indies change in ploy to back in their pace bowlers with the new ball worked on this occasion.
Maxwell still managed to have a positive impact on the game, however.
The all-rounder removed the dangerous Sherfane Rutherford for 35 off 17 balls, knocking the left-hander over with an arm ball.
Rutherford lost his cool, sending his helmet flying as he walked off the ground after failing to convert a dangerous start into a big score.
Meanwhile, Maxwell had Australian captain Mitchell Marsh in stitches as he directed a haircut celebration towards the dressing room after an arm ball crashed into Rutherford’s stumps.
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