Australia completed a 5-0 sweep of the West Indies in their Twenty20 international series with Ben Dwarshuis’s bowling paving the way for a three-wicket victory in Basseterre, Saint Kitts on Monday.
Mitchell Owen top-scored for Australia with 37 off 17 balls, while Cameron Green (32), Tim David (30) and Aaron Hardie (28 nout out) all made valuable contributions as the visitors reached their target of 171 with 18 balls to spare.
The win sealed the first T20 series sweep by an Australian men’s team in the West Indies, and saw them end the tour with a perfect 8-0 record after a similar sweep in the three-test series.
“I didn’t expect 5-0 at the start of the series,” Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said. “But we played some great cricket. It was something we spoke about after the fourth game.
“We knew no Australian team had completed a clean sweep. We’ve had guys come in and played different roles for us.”
The match featured 15 sixes, which Marsh attributed to the size of the venue.
“I think it’s a small ground, so there’s always going to be more sixes than normal,” he said.
“But I think if you look down our batting order in all the five games, we had a lot of power and I guess the messaging was just to play their natural game.”
Marsh also lauded the performance of his relatively inexperienced bowlers in the death overs.
“I’m pretty sure in the last four overs, we didn’t go for more than 40 or 50 across the five games,” he said.
“It’s really hard to do. So I think all of them executed. Nathan Ellis was outstanding, Sean Abbott was brilliant. Ben Dwarshuis hasn’t played a lot, did a really good role, and even Xavier Bartlett has grown and grown as a bowler.”
West Indies fans must have feared the worst when Australia won a fifth straight toss and bowled the hosts out for 170, a total they reached thanks in large part to Shimron Hetmyer’s knock of 52 off 31 balls.
Dwarshuis picked up Hetmyer’s wicket as well as those of openers Brandon King (11) and Shai Hope (9).
“It was a little bit of a slower wicket so we tried to hit the wicket hard and use the slower balls as well,” said Dwarshuis, who was named player of the match.
Australia return home for a limited-overs series against South Africa, while the West Indies play Pakistan in three T20Is and three one-day internationals.
(Reuters)
