Mitchell Starc showed his experience in the fourth T20I at Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium on Wednesday after defending 11 runs in the final over to get Australia their first victory of the tour.
West Indies nearly got over the line while chasing 190 runs but Andre Russel failed to score 11 runs in the final over bowled by Mitchel Starc, bowling with high speed to concede only five runs in the final over.
Australia had won the toss and decided to bat first. Australia didn’t start their innings very well. Australian opener, Mathew Wade was in good touch in the first matches but this time he lost his wicket in the second over of the innings.
After Wade, Mitchel Marsh came out and gave his innings a fine start. He was also a top-runs scorer of Australia in the whole series.
Mitchell Marsh was playing this innings fearlessly and he kept striking the boundaries.
On the other end, Aaron Finch was also looking in a good form. He hits a couple of boundaries and runs keep coming for Australia. Australian skipper, Aaron Finch’s first fifty of the series comes off 34 deliveries.
Both Finch and Marsh were in good form and made a great partnership (114) but their partnership breaks down when Walsh JR comes to bowl his second over and takes the wicket of Aaron Finch.
After Finch’s wicket, Alex Carey also loses his wicket on the first ball and Walsh JR stands on a hit trick but he could not complete that.
After a solid partnership between Finch and Marsh, Australia keep losing their wickets. But Marsh stands still on the pitch but he could not play long and loses his wicket to an inside edge, the ball goes directly to the wicketkeeper’s hand.
Australia sets a total of 189-6 after 20 overs.
West Indies started their innings very well. Both their opener, Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons were on fire and they hit consecutive boundaries.
Adam Zampa took the wicket on his very first over and a Windies opening partnership breaks down.
Chris gayle came out after the first wicket but he couldn’t process his innings and lost his wicket on the Marsh’s first over.
West Indies continuously lose wickets but Lendl Simmons gives some hope to the team and tries to play some shots but he couldn’t take his innings far and loses his wicket.
Then Fabian Allen and Russell came out and all Windies hopes were now on both of them. On the second last over of the match, Allen hits four sixes and then lost his wicket on the last ball of the over.
On the last over, WI just needs 11 runs on the 6 balls. But Starc delivered his first five balls of the over very well and all were maiden and on the last ball, WI needed 11 runs on 1 ball. Then Russell hits the six and couldn’t stand his team on the winning side.
“He may have had a bit of a slower start this series but he is the best in the world. We’ve got a lot of young bowlers in our group that will look at that tonight and aspire to be like that. I think that’s great. He’s a great leader and a great white ball bowler,”
Marsh said.
“As an allrounder, you rarely get a game where you have the opportunity to get stuck in with bat and ball, but most importantly to get a win after going 3-0 was important for this young group,”
he said.
Brief scores: Australia 189/6 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 53, Mitchell Marsh 75; Hayden Walsh 3-27) beat West Indies 185/6 in 20 overs (Lendl Simmons 72, Evin Lewis 31, Fabian Allen 29; Mitchell Marsh 3-24) by 4 runs.
