The Australian cricket team started the three-match T20I series on a dominant note with wins in the two initial games. However, the West Indies managed to get a sense of redemption in the last game of the series as they defeated Australia by a margin of 37 runs in the dead-rubber encounter. Hence, without further delay, let’s take a look at the report card of the Australian players for the three-match series.
Top Order
David Warner (8/10): David Warner played an important role in the Australian batting line-up in the three-match series. In the first match, Warner scored the only half-century of the match from the Australian side, smashing 70 runs off 36 deliveries.
Warner struggled in the second match and lost his wicket on an off-cutter bowled by Romario Shepherd at the score of 22. The veteran batter played a crucial 81-run innings in the last match and gave the Kangaroos a kickstart in the powerplay.
Josh Inglis (3/10): Josh Inglis supported David Warner in the first match and also gave the Aussies a decent start in the powerplay overs. Inglis scored 39 runs off 25 deliveries. In the second match, he went back to the pavilion after scoring only four runs. However, he was shifted to the middle order in the last match of the series, where Roston Chase took his wicket on a follow-through at the score of 1.
Mitchell Marsh (4/10): Mitchell Marsh was named the captain of the Australian cricket team ahead of the T20I series and it’s fair to say that he fulfilled his duties by steering the Aussies towards a 2-1 win over the West Indies. However, he failed to impress with his batting skills.
In the first match, Marsh scored only 16 runs but looked good in the second match as he smashed two sixes initially, however, his wicket was eventually taken by Alzarri Joseph (29 runs off 12 deliveries). The skipper opened the innings for the Aussies in the third match, where he only scored 17 runs.
Middle Order
Tim David was unbeaten in all the matches during the series
Tim David (8/10): Tim David fulfilled the role of a potential finisher for the Aussies by pushing the scoreline in the last few overs against the West Indies in all the matches. David smashed four fours and two sixes, eventually adding 37 runs off 17 deliveries.
Similarly, in the second match, David scored 31 runs off 14 deliveries. Just like his performances in the first two T20I matches, Tim David again played a fiery innings by scoring 41 runs off 19 deliveries in the last match.
Matthew Wade (3/10): Matthew Wade also failed to leave his mark on the series by scoring only 21 runs off 14 deliveries before getting dismissed by Russell. Wade didn’t bat in the second match and in the third T20I, the wicket-keeper scored seven runs off seven deliveries. Moreover, he took a total of five catches during the series.
All-rounders
Glenn Maxwell (7/10): Romario Shepherd got the better of Glenn Maxwell in the first match when the Australian all-rounder was only at eight. Maxwell also bowled two overs, where he took the wicket of the West Indies skipper Rowman Powell, conceding 31 runs.
However, he made his comeback in the second T20I and scored his fifth century in the shortest form of cricket. Scoring 120 runs in 55 deliveries, Maxwell smashed 12 fours and eight sixes. Romario Shepherd dismissed Maxwell in the third T20I when he was one at 12.
Marcus Stoinis (6/10): Marcus Stoinis didn’t get a favourable start with the bat in the first T20I as he was dismissed early by Russell. However, he gave a calculated performance with the ball as he picked up two wickets in three overs with an economy rate of 6.67.
In the second match, Stoinis scored two fours garnered 16 runs before he lost his wicket against Jason Holder. He also bowled four overs against the Windies, where he picked up the wickets of Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Andre Russell, conceding 36 runs before being rested for the third match.
Aaron Hardie (4/10): Aaron Hardie was named in the playing XI of the Aussies in the third ODI in the place of Marcus Stoinis and bowled four overs, where he took the wicket of Powell, conceding 36 runs. In the second innings of the match, Hardie came to bat at No.3 where he scored 16 runs.
Bowlers
Sean Abbott (1/10): Sean Abbott only played the first match of the series where he was dismissed on a duck by Russell. Moreover, he failed to impress with his bowling ability because he had an economy rate of 10.25. Nevertheless, he took the wicket of Sherfane Rutherford.
Adam Zampa leaked 65 runs in the last match but he also took the wicket of Roston Chase
Adam Zampa (3/10): Adam Zampa had a laudable performance in the first match as he took the crucial wickets of Charles, Nicholas Pooran, and Russell, with an economy of 6.50 only.
In the next match, the Australian spinner leaked 39 runs during his spell and took the wicket of Powell. Zampa was targeted by the West Indies batters in the third game as the Aussie spinner conceded 65 runs in four overs.
Jason Behrendorff (1.5/10): During the whole series, Jason Behrendorff’s economy rate was a point of concern for the Australian cricket team. In the series opener, he bowled three overs with an economy of 12.67 and he also took a wicket.
The southpaw conceded a mammoth sum of 55 runs in the spell at the Adelaide Oval, taking one wicket again. Behrendorff was Australia’s most economical bowler in the third T20I as he leaked 31 runs and dismissed Pooran.
Josh Hazlewood (3/10): Josh Hazlewood bowled a nightmare spell in the first T20I as he conceded 44 runs in four overs without taking a single wicket. Hazlewood’s economy rate improved in the second match to 7.75 as he leaked 31 runs in four overs and also dismissed Brandon King and Akeal Hosein before being rested for the last match of the series.
Spencer Johnson (2/10): After missing the first game, Johnson played the second match of the series, where he took two wickets in his four-over spell with an economy rate of 9.75. Johnson also has a difficult time at the Optus Stadium, as he leaked 49 runs during his spell, taking the wicket of rampaging Russell, who scored 71 runs off 29 deliveries. Xavier Bartlett (5/10): Xavier Bartlett got the opportunity to play the Kangaroos in the last T20I at the place of Josh Hazlewood. However, Bartlett did a fairly successful job. He dismissed Charles and Kyle Mayers in his two initial overs. However, his bowling became less rewarding in the final overs, as he had an economy rate of 9.25 after completing his spell.