West Indies attack star in brilliant comeback
Sent out to bat, the hosts were restricted to 145/6 from their 20 overs as the metronomic Josh Hazlewood took 3/12 from his four overs.
Cruising at 108/4 in pursuit in the 11th over, Australia wound up being bowled out for 127 by the 16th, losing six wickets for 19 runs.
Earlier, Hazlewood struck twice in an opening three-over spell of 2/3, removing Evin Lewis (0) and Chris Gayle (4) to leave the hosts limping at 24/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
A great start to the match from @CricketAus’ bowlers and @windiescricket are 24/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
— ICC (@ICC) July 10, 2021
Josh Hazlewood with figures of 2/3 from his three overs so far 👏https://t.co/ozP8eO2Ktv | #WIvAUS pic.twitter.com/SuTo4c0y40
Mitchell Marsh (2/26) then chimed in with the dismissals of Lendl Simmons (27) and Shimron Hetmyer (20) either side of a brilliant direct hit from Josh Philippe to run-out stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran for 17. Looking to steal a leg-bye as Australia appealed for an lbw against Hetmyer, Pooran was slow getting back into his crease and paid the price as Philippe dived in from mid-wicket before under-arming his throw into the stumps.
It took something special from Russell to drag the Caribbean outfit to a defendable total. The all-rounder blasted five sixes and three fours as he raced to 51 off 28 before perishing to Hazlewood in the final over. Twice he hit successive sixes, dealing two maximums to Ashton Agar (0/28) in the 15th over and two more to Mitchell Starc (0/40) in the 17th, and one more against the same man in the 19th for good measure.
A first T20I half-century for Andre Russell 👏
— ICC (@ICC) July 10, 2021
It comes off just 26 deliveries and he has revived the hosts’ hopes in this match.
📸: @windiescricket https://t.co/ozP8eO2Ktv | #WIvAUS pic.twitter.com/VkcZBASdSQ
Despite Russell’s fireworks, and the early loss of Aaron Finch (4) to Fabian Allen (2/24), Australia looked on course to make lightwork of the chase.
The Australians had raced to 46/2 in four overs when Matthew Wade (33) fell to Russell (1/14) and while Philippe (1), Moises Henriques (16) and Ben McDermot (2) failed to leave too big an impact on the match, a half-century from Marsh (51) looked to be the game’s deciding hand.
Instead, his fall to Hayden Walsh Jr (3/23) opened the door for the hosts.
Seamer Obed McCoy (4/26) returned to the attack with a game-deciding spell, removing Agar (1), Starc (3) and Hazlewood (0) to finish off the match, with Walsh Jr chiming in with the key dismissal of Dan Christian (10).
The two sides next meet on Saturday.