The West Indies took a 3-0 lead in the 5-match T20 International series on Monday evening when they defeated the visiting Australians by 6 wickets with 31 balls remaining at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (DSCG) in Beausejour, Gros Islet, in the process making Chris Gayle the first batsman to reach 14,000 runs in T20 International.
The two teams will meet tonight in Game 4 and on Friday in Game 5 at the same venue.
On Monday evening, Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss for the third consecutive time and elected to bat first and posted 141 for 6 at a run rate of 7.05.
Moises Henriques top scored with 33, Aaron Finch 30, Ashton Agar 24, and Matthew Wade 23 the main contributors with the bat.
Fall of wickets: 1 for 41 (Matthew Wade), 2 for 58 (Mitchell Marsh), 3 for 79 (Alex Carey), 4 for 80 (Aaron Finch), 5 for 139 (Moises Henriques), 6 for 141 (Aston Agar).
Bowling for West Indies, Hayden Walsh Jr 2 for 18, Obed McCoy 1 for 9, Dwayne Bravo 1 for 17 and Fabian Allen 1 for 26.
The West Indies made light work of their run chase despite losing Andre Fletcher for 4 in the first over, caught by Mitchell Marsh off the bowling of Mitchell Starc. However, the night belonged to Chris Gayle playing in his 431st T20 International. He scored a blistering 67 from 38 deliveries which included four 4s, and seven towering sixes at a strike rate of 176.31. In the process Gayle past 14,000 T20 International runs before he was the third man out, caught by wicket keeper Matthew Wade off the bowling of Riley Meredith with the score on 109 inside the 11th over and a further 32 needed for victory.
Stand in captain, Nicholas Pooran 32 not out, Andre Russell 7 not out, Lendl Simmons 15 and Dwayne Bravo 7 were the other contributors with the bat.
Following the game, Player of the Match, Chris Gayle said, “It’s a great journey. I am so happy and so pleased to get a series win. I just want to commend the stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran for winning a fantastic series against a great team. To Kieron Pollard, he played a big part as well even though he played in none of these games.”
Gayle added, “You all knew I was struggling with the bat and to be able to get some runs this evening was very pleasing. But what was pleasing about getting these runs tonight was my teammates. I want to dedicate this half-century and milestone to my teammates, especially Kieron Pollard. He lets me know where I stand within this team and he wanted me to go and express myself. So, I am very grateful for that pep talk because sometimes it doesn’t matter how great you are, you need a bit of a talk sometimes. That coming from Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo with big support in the media as well.”
He said, “I have to commend those senior guys; they played a fantastic part with what happened this evening. With this strength and unity, we’re playing some great all-round cricket and I am really pleased to win this series.”
Last Saturday, for the second consecutive game, the West Indies bowled out Australia to win by 56 runs. Shimron Hetmyer’s 61 off 36 balls and Dwayne Bravo’s unbeaten 47 added 103 for the fourth wicket helped the West Indies seal a comprehensive 56-run victory over Australia in the second Twenty20 International.
Batting first, the West Indies scored 196 for the loss of four wickets at a run rate of 9.80.
For the West Indies, Shimron Hetmyer 61, Dwayne Bravo 47 not out, Lendl Simons 30, Andre Russell 24 not out and Chris Gayle 13.
Bowling for Australia, Mitchell Marsh 1 for 18, Ashton Agar 1 for 28, Josh Hazlewood 1 for 39.
Requiring 197 for victory, Australia was bowled out for 140 in 19.2 overs with Mitchell March scoring his second consecutive half century, he made 54, Moises Henriques 19 and Josh Philippe 13, the only batsmen to reach double figures.
Bowling for the West Indies, Hayden Walsh 3 for 29, Sheldon Cottrell 2 for 22, Chris Gayle 1 for 1, Fidel Edwards 1 for 8, Andre Russell 1 for 22 and Dwayne Bravo 1 for 29.
CG Insurance Player of the Match – Shimron Hetmyer.
In game 1 played on Friday 9th, the West Indies defeated Australia by 18 runs. Scores – West Indies 145 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs at a run rate of 7.25, Andre Russell 51, Lendl Simmons 27, Shimron Hetmyer 20, and Nicholas Pooran 17.
Bowling for Australia, Josh Hazlewood 3 for 12 and Mitchell March 2 for 26.
Australia in reply, 127 all out, Mitchell Marsh 51, Matthew Wade 33, Moises Henriques 16 and Dan Christian 10.
Bowling for West Indies, Obed McCoy 4 for 26 and Hayden Walsh Jr 3 for 23, Fabian Allen 2 for 24 and Andre Russell 1 for 24.
Player of the Match – Obed McCoy.
