West Indies steamroll Australia to wrap up series 4-1
… Lewis 79, Pooran, Gayle, Cottrell, Russell contribute as well
West Indies had already taken the five match T20I series 3-1, so they needed to wrap up the series on a high, while the Aussies were searching for a consolation win. Evin Lewis played his part and in the end the West Indies stormed to a comfortable 4-1 series win over their opponents, winning the 5th T20I by 16 runs last night as Australia could only afford 183-9 in reply to West Indies 199-8.
Lewis off to a flyer, Gayle cameo
Earlier in the innings West Indies batted first and Evin Lewis wasted no time, he got off to a flyer as he smashed the ball to every part of the ground. Lewis and Andre Fletcher shared an opening partnership of 40, with Lewis being the aggressive one. Fletcher was bowled for 12 after soaking up 16 balls. Nevertheless, Lewis continued to dominate the power play overs, making the Aussies pay. Chris Gayle then came to the crease and only managed to last seven deliveries, but he made it count as he targeted Adam Zampa, however, it was Mitchell Swepson that got him. Gayle departed for 21 off 6 deliveries which was inclusive of 2 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 300.
Lewis continues his rampage, Pooran blitz
Even after Gayle departed with the score on 83-2, Lewis continued to trash the Aussies, he managed to last until over 10.6 contributing 79 off 34 balls which was inclusive of 4 boundaries and 9 towering sixes. Nicholas Pooran then took liking to Adam Zampa as he smashed him for 2 sixes and a boundary in the same over. Between Pooran and Lendl Simmons, the pair contributed 44 runs during their partnership before Simmons departed for 21 with the score on 168-4.
Windies Fumble
Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran contributions outlined a nice platform for the men in maroon. But, as it began to close into the 20th over, the windies started to swing for the hills and wickets fell in succession. The score moved from 168-4 to 199-8, seeing a total of 4 wickets fall for 31 runs, giving Australia a target of 200 to attain form their allotted 20 overs. Bowling for the Aussies were Andrew Tye with 3-37, Adam Zampa 2-30, Mitchell Marsh 2-12 and Mitchell Swepson 1-41.
Australia eye a consolation win, the chase is on, Wickets tumble
From the get go, just as the West Indies scored at a fast rate so did the Australians, despite losing Josh Phillipe for 1 off the bowling of Sheldon Cottrell. Aaron Finch and the inform Mitchell Marsh made the Windies put in some hard work as they were neck and neck in the chase. Finch (34) and Marsh (30) departed off the bowling of Walsh and Russell respectively but the Aussies were still in the hunt. Moises Henriques played a cameo but he was run out by Nicholas Pooran for 21 and shortly after that Alex Carey fell for 9 as Andre Russell picked up his second wicket of the night. Even Chris Gayle was economical in his bowling (3 overs for 9 runs) as the Aussies found it hard to read his line and length, this only made matters worse as they dug themselves deeper and deeper into a hole as the equation now stood at 70 off 33 balls with 6 wickets in hand. Andre Russell then returned with the ball and removed Matthew Wade for 26 to turn the tide in the West Indies favour, but a six and a four from Andrew Tye changed the equation to 52 off 24 deliveries with the Aussies 6 wickets down.
The Men in Maroon tighten the reigns to wrap up the game
With Matthew Wade now gone, the Windies struck immediately as Sheldon Cottrell removed Andrew Tye. Cottrell then continued his assault as he bagged his third wicket and as the song says “You Know Its Just A Little Too Late”, well that was the case for the men from down under the tail proved futile. In the end West Indies wrapped up the Australian innings to take the series 4-1. Bowling were Andre Russell 3-43, Sheldon Cottrell 3-29 and Hayden Walsh Jr 1-43.