Windies do the business in Kingstown

Cricket365
March 19, 2012

The West Indies were up to the task of chasing a relatively small target at the second time of asking, as they beat Australia by five-wickets on Sunday.

The two teams did battle in the opening one-dayer of the series on Friday and an all too familiar scenario unfolded with the hosts failing – by a considerable margin of 62 runs – to surmount a target of 205. There would be no repeat on Sunday though, as Darren Sammy's men leveled the five-match series.

Rain had the biggest say early in the encounter, with the start of play delayed by 45 minutes and a further disruption occurring after five overs were bowled.

Whether or not it was the rain that had the Australians looking uncomfortable, or the combination of a slow pitch with variable bounce that was well worked by the Windies bowlers, is hard to tell, but Shane Watson's team struggled throughout their innings.

There were no fireworks from David Warner (13) who was bowled by a Kemar Roach delivery that kept low, and he was followed back to the pavilion just four balls later by Peter Forrest for a duck.

While Watson (25) and Mike Hussey (24) both got started, with the latter sharing in a 31-run partnership with brother David, nobody seemed able to get the scoring rate going in earnest – at no stage did the run rate rise above four an over.

David Hussey (37) looked well placed to explode in the closing stages but was bowled by the impressive Sunil Narine (four for 27) just when he should have got going.

Facing an adjusted total of 158, the hosts lost Kieran Powell to a first-ball duck and with it came the feeling of impending doom that has tarnished previous chases.

There was little cause for concern though as all of the top order contributed to some extent, which was all that was required in the context of a small target.

The youth of Johnson Charles (26) and Darren Bravo (16) combined after a solid showing from Marlon Samuels (20) to put the Windies in the right direction. The younger of the Bravo brothers did, however, blot his copy book by running Charles out.

The experienced campaigners Dwayne Bravo (30) and Kieron Pollard combined first aggression and then patience as they carved out a partnership of 64, before more abysmal running from a Bravo saw Dwayne depart with 20 still required.

It seemed like the West Indies couldn't lose, yet with every dot ball the noose seemed to tighten further. Surely they wouldn't throw another match away?

A Carlton Baugh boundary off the final delivery of the 37th over brought the runs required down to nine with 18 balls remaining.

Suddenly it seemed manageable again and there was no looking back as victory was achieved with 10 balls to spare and with it, the West Indies claimed their first ODI win over Australia since 2006.