Basseterre (St. Kitts): Australia wrapped up their Caribbean tour in style with another commanding win, sealing the final T20I in St Kitts. After sweeping the West Indies 3-0 in the Test series, the Aussies maintained their dominance in the T20Is, completing a 5-0 series sweep.
Chasing a target of 171, the middle-order trio of Cameron Green, Mitchell Owen and Tim David once again played pivotal roles. Green’s consistent performances across all five matches earned him the Player of the Series accolade.
Australia made an ideal start in the powerplay after choosing to bowl first. Returning to the lineup, Ben Dwarshuis made an immediate impact by dismissing both openers. Keacy Carty followed soon after with a mistimed shot, departing for a scratchy 1 off 8 balls, leaving the hosts in early trouble. It was only Sherfane Rutherford’s aggressive, boundary-filled start that prevented the West Indies’ powerplay from turning into a complete collapse.
Rutherford continued to look in red-hot form even after the powerplay, greeting Nathan Ellis with a couple of boundaries. However, just as he seemed to be settling in, he was bowled by a quicker delivery from Glenn Maxwell, departing for 35 against the run of play.
Shimron Hetmyer then took over, unleashing a flurry of boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking, but Australia continued to strike at regular intervals. In the 17th over, Hetmyer went after Dwarshuis with a sequence of 4, 6, 4 to bring up a 30-ball half-century, only to miscue one right after reaching the milestone. That timely breakthrough proved crucial, as the West Indies managed just 14 more runs in the final three overs and were eventually bowled out for 170.
Despite Australia finding the boundary five times in the first two overs, the target looked more than challenging. During that explosive start, they also suffered early setbacks, losing Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck and Josh Inglis for 10.
The West Indies’ dream opening continued as Alzarri Joseph beat Mitchell Marsh’s inside edge to bowl him, leaving the visitors in deep trouble at 25/3. Enter Tim David, who came out with clear intent and immediately took the attack to the bowlers. ]
Returning to the XI after being rested for the previous game – following his match-winning century in the third T20I – David launched into Jason Holder and Joseph, hitting each for two sixes. However, his aggressive cameo was cut short when he mistimed one and was dismissed.
The action-packed powerplay saw Australia race to 67 runs, even with four wickets down. The onslaught didn’t stop there, as a fearless Mitchell Owen took the attack to Matthew Forde, smashing him for 22 runs in a single over. That was immediately followed by another expensive over that went for 21, as Australia powered ahead toward the target with relentless aggression, showing no signs of hesitation despite their earlier setbacks.
Akeal Hosein, brought into the attack as late as the 10th over, provided the West Indies some much-needed relief by removing Owen, though the damage had already been done by the allrounder.
Hosein continued to make his presence felt, later dismissing the well-set Cameron Green and then Ben Dwarshuis. However, Aaron Hardie held firm and remained unbeaten, steering Australia home with three overs to spare and sealing a flawless tour with an 8-0 clean sweep.
Brief scores: West Indies 170 in 19.4 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 52, Sherfane Rutherford 35; Ben Dwarshuis 3/41) lost to Australia 173/7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Owen 37; Akeal Hosein 3/17) by 3 wickets.
