West Indies lost their opening T20 International against Australia in Queensland on Wednesday by three wickets with a ball to spare to go 0-1 down in the two-match series.
West Indies have only themselves to blame, dropping two catches in the final over bowled by Sheldon Cottrell and that proved costly in the end.
Chasing 146 for victory, Australia owed their victory to Aaron Finch (58) and Matthew Wade (39*) whose sixth-wicket partnership turned the match in favour of the hosts who had lost half their wickets early.
The pair came together with Australia struggling after Sheldon Cottell’s two wickets and one each from Yannic Cariah, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph had reduced the hosts were 58-5 after eight overs.
They eventually repelled the West Indies attack with a 69-run partnership that for a while took the match away from the tourists. The match swung significantly in Australia’s favour when Sheldon Cottrell, who had earlier removed David Warner and Mitchell Marsh in his first over, leaked 18 runs in his third over, the 12th of the Australian innings.
Bowling his final over, Joseph broke the stand when he dismissed Finch for 58 with the score at 127 with Australia needing just 19 from 17 balls.
The Antiguan conceded only four runs from that over to finish with the impressive figures of 2-17.
Odean Smith bowled Cummins for four to leave Australia needing 11 from the final over.
Cottrell gave up a four to Wade off the first ball setting the stage for Australia to achieve the target but with a lot of help from the West Indies.
Wade escaped the second ball when Reifer dropped him in the deep and square of the wicket which resulted in Australia getting two runs.
The hosts needed four runs from three balls when Mayers dropped Starc from Cottrell’s fourth and Australia took two more runs.
Starc got two from the Cottrell’s fifth to get Australia over the line with a ball to spare.
Cottrell finished with 2-49 while Smith bowled well to end with 1-19.
Earlier, Kyle Mayers scored 39 at the top of the order and Odean Smith 27 at the end as the West Indies posted 145-9 from their 20 overs. Brandon King (13) and Raymon Reifer (19) each got starts but the West Indies lost wickets regularly and were unable to get any momentum during their innings.
Josh Hazelwood was the best of the Australian bowlers with 3-35. Pat Cummins 2-22 and Mitchell Starc 2-40 were solid in support.
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Leeward Islands Hurricanes on the verge of victory over Guyana Harpy Eagles at Providence
Tournament leaders the Guyana Harpy Eagles are on the verge of a crushing defeat at the hands of the Leeward Islands Volcanoes in their final round game at Providence.
Kemol Savory and Veerasammy both scored half-centuries to help the Harpy Eagles, who started day three 48-1 trailing by 77 runs, post 267 in 79 overs in their second innings.
Savory finished 66* off 157 balls while Permaul made 65. Earlier, Kevlon Anderson and Kevin Sinclair both made 31.
Rakheem Cornwall finished with 4-58 off 22 overs for the Hurricanes.
Chasing just 143 for victory, the Hurricanes ended day three 81-1 with Kieran Powell on 47 and Keacy Carty on 17.
The Harpy Eagles entered the round with a 10.2-point lead over the Windward Islands Volcanoes, who are currently in the driver’s seat against the Barbados Pride at Queen’s Park Oval.
Windwards Volcanoes restrict Barbados Pride to 28-3 at stumps on day three chasing 236 for victory at Queen’s Park Oval
The Windward Islands Volcanoes will enter Saturday’s day four of their final round fixture against the Barbados Pride seven wickets away from a possible title-clinching win after restricting the Pride to 28-3 chasing 236 for victory at the Queen’s Park Oval.
The Volcanoes recovered excellently to make 225 off 73.2 overs after starting the day 14-4 with Kavem Hodge and Sunil Ambris at the wicket on four and zero, respectively.
The recovery effort was led by Ambris thanks to a crucial 141-ball 79 including nine fours and a six while pacer Ryan John and wicketkeeper Tevyn Walcott made valuable contributions of 37* and 35, respectively.
Jomel Warrican took 4-58 for the Pride while Akeem Jordan and Jair McAllister took two wickets, each.
Chasing 236 for victory, the Pride were 28-3 off 17 overs at stumps with Jonathan Drakes (9) and Chaim Holder (0) at the crease.
If the Windwards Volcanoes win and the Guyana Harpy Eagles lose to the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, the Volcanoes could lift the title.
T&T Red Force crush Jamaica Scorpions by nine wickets at Torouba
In the battle between bottom-placed teams, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force crushed Jamaica Scorpions by nine wickets with more than a day to spare in their West Indies Championships match at Torouba on Friday.
Needing 99 for victory, after dismissing the Scorpions for 275, TT Red Force cruised to 102-1 in 24.2 overs. Vikash Mohan was unbeaten on 44 and Darren Bravo 14 when victory was achieved. Kamil Pooran was the batsman dismissed for 39 by Jermaine Blackwood.
Bottom-of-the-table Jamaica had resumed from their overnight score of 199-5 with Abhijai Mansingh on 10 and Aldane Thomas seven when play began. The pair would add a further 53 to their overnight stand of eight but were dismissed in quick succession by Shannon Gabriel for 32 and 39, respectively.
The dismissals triggered a slide that saw the hapless Scorpions lose their last four wickets for just 23 runs slipping from 252-6 to 275 all out.
Gabriel ended with figures of 2-52. Imran Khan claimed the last three wickets - Jeavor Royal, Ojay Shields and Marquino Mindley - to finish with 4-47. Anderson Phillip took 2-46 and Bryan Charles 2-75.
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