Australia beat West Indies by 4 runs in the 4th T20I at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium. Mitchell Starc, the hero for Australia, defended 11 runs in the last over against the big hitter Andre Russell.
Match Highlights
Chasing a mammoth 190-run target, West Indies openers got off to a stirring start scoring 62 runs in 4.5 overs before losing Evin Lewis. Mitchell Marsh dismissed Chris Gayle in his first over itself. Marsh shifted the momentum back in Australia’s direction, dismissing Nicholas Pooran (16) and Lendl Simmons (72) on successive deliveries in the 16th over. With bowling figures of 4-0-24-3, Marsh picked his career-best T20I bowling figures.
West Indies needed 36 runs off the final 12 balls, Fabian Allen hit four sixes in Riley Meredith’s penultimate over and brought back the hosts into the game. But a classy final over from Mitchell Starc, who bowled five dot balls against the dangerous Andre Russell and took Australia to a thrilling victory.
Earlier, the Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first. A 114-run partnership between Finch (53 off 37) and Mitchell Marsh (75 off 44) for the second wicket helped the visitors to put on a massive target of 189. It was Mitchell Marsh’s third half-century of the series and his highest individual score in T20 internationals. Hayden Walsh Jr continued his excellent form and picked 3 wickets for West Indies.
Mitchell Marsh produced his career-best T20 international batting (75 off 44 balls) and bowling figures (3/24)
“I thought the new ball came on really well tonight. We saw that with both teams. Growing up at the WACA, I love [facing] fast bowling, a bit of fun. It was a great all-around performance from all our bowlers. I thought it was probably par, the wicket slowed up towards the back end but with West Indies, you never think it’s enough.” Mitchell Marsh said in the post-match presentation.
The winning captain, Aaron Finch was pleased by the performance from his side today.
“We stuck at it all the way, they got away in the Powerplay but that can happen. The way Mitch got away to flier allowed me to sit back. Then it was a chance for both of us to accelerate after the rain break. We knew if Mitchell Starc executes he’s as good as anyone in the world. Lots of faith in him. The way Adam Zampa bowled through the middle, Mitch Marsh and Jason Behrendorff, took the pace off the ball.” Finch said after the win
West Indies lead the five-match T20I series 3-1. The final T20I will be played on Friday at the Daren Sammy National Cricket stadium.
