David Warner played an explosive innings of 70 runs after playing the hundredth match in T20 after the Test and ODI. With Josh Inglis and Tim David’s batting rampage, Australia got 214 runs. The West Indies were scared at the beginning when they set a huge target. The opening pair put up a great fight. But Windies lost the rhythm of the start and got the bitter taste of defeat. Australia started the three-match T20 series by winning by 11 runs in Hobart on Friday.
After losing the toss in Hobart, openers Warner and Josh English gave Australia a 93-run start with 48 balls. Warner scored his 25th half-century in the 100th T20 match of his career in just 22 balls. West Indies pacer Jason Holder broke Australia’s opening pair in the eighth over by dismissing the Englishman, who scored 39 runs in 25 balls with five fours and one six.
Australia lost the fifth wicket for 159 runs as the middle-order batsmen failed to play big innings. Captain Mitchell Marsh (16), Glenn Maxwell (10), and Marcus Stoinis scored nine runs. Warner was dismissed for 70 runs off 36 balls with 12 fours and 1 six. Tim David and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade made Australia a big collection of 213 runs for 7 wickets by picking up 50 runs in 23 balls in the sixth wicket. This is the first time against the West Indies in T20 that Australia has reached the quota of 200 runs.
David scored an unbeaten 37 off 17 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Wade scored 21 runs off 14 balls with a four-six. Andre Russell of the West Indies took 3 wickets, and Aljari Joseph took 2 wickets. Two openers, Brandon King and Johnson Challors, gave the West Indies a flying start to the target of 214 runs. Spinner Adam Zampa gifted the first wicket to Australia by dismissing Charles, who scored 42 runs from 25 balls with six fours and one six. King was dismissed for 53 runs after getting his ninth half-century in T-20. King hit seven fours and one six off 37 balls before falling victim to pacer Marcus Stoinis.
The West Indies’ middle-order batsmen could not capitalize after the departure of two openers in the team’s 100 in the 11th over. The West Indies lost the eighth batsman for 163 runs after losing wickets at regular intervals. At this stage, the West Indies needed 51 runs from the last 15 balls with two wickets in hand. In this situation, Holder stormed with the bat at the end. But the West Indies could not avoid defeat, even with the holder’s unbeaten 34 runs in 15 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Caribbean scored 202 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. The Australian Zampa took 3 wickets, and Stoinis took 2 wickets. With a 1-0 lead, Australia will play the second T20 of the series against the West Indies on February 11 in Adelaide.
The West Indies come to shore in a run-flooding match.
