Watson ton trumps West Indies
Opener Shane Watson struck a blitzkrieg century to carry Australia to a comfortable four-wicket triumph over the West Indies in Saturday's Champions Trophy warmup match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
Opener Shane Watson struck a blitzkrieg century to carry Australia to a comfortable four-wicket triumph over the West Indies in Saturday's Champions Trophy warmup match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
Watson's magnificent 135, which came from just 98 balls and contained 15 fours and four sixes, enabled Australia to win with 67 balls to spare.
Windies captain Dwayne Bravo won the toss and chose to bat and saw his team amass a respectable 256 for nine from their 50 overs.
The highlight of their innings was a second wicket partnership of 65 runs between Darren Bravo (86 from 99 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes) and Johnson Charles, whose 55 contained four fours.
However, Watson's exploits meant the total was nowhere near enough.
Although Australia lost David Warner and Phillip Hughes without scoring in the first two overs – both caught behind by Denesh Ramdin off Kemar Roach – a 125-run stand for the fourth wicket between Watson and Adam Voges took the game away from the West Indies.
Watson's innings ended when he was caught by Darren Bravo off Tino Best with Australia needing 60 for victory, and although Voges followed eight runs later for 43, Mitchell Marsh maintained the momentum with an unbeaten 39 from 19 deliveries which finished the job in 38.5 overs.
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