West Indies 142 for 4 (Gayle 67, Pooran 32*, Meredith 3-48) beat Australia 141 for 6 (Henriques 33, Walsh 2-18) by six wickets
West Indies have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the T20 International series against Australia after a vintage Chris Gayle innings paved the way for a six-wicket victory. Batting first, Australia set a modest target of 142 for the home side; it was never going to be enough with Gayle back to his blistering best and his half-century ensured West Indies were home with more than five overs to spare.
Here are some key takeaways from the match.
Different approach, same result
Aaron Finch has won all three tosses in this series. In the first two matches he elected to bowl first and Australia collapsed in both chases. This time he decided to bat first and - with Alex Carey, Ashton Turner and Riley Meredith in for Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott and Ashton Agar - it was a fresh and more experienced line up for Australia. But similar problems persisted. It was an improved batting powerplay from the last outing, but both Finch and Matthew Wade were out after making starts, exposing the troublesome middle order.
Mitchell Marsh and Carey were out cheaply while Turner and Moises Henriques scored at a little over a run a ball. Australia managed just 11 boundaries and two sixes in 20 overs compared to the West Indies’ 13 boundaries and eight sixes.
Gayle is back
Gayle had scored just 17 runs across the first two matches but a pre-match pep talk from injured captain Kieron Pollard had a stunning effect. The 41-year-old had earlier shown flashes of athleticism in the field when he had fired a direct hit that almost ran out Wade and he found his foot movement when he was at the crease.
Gayle seemed wooden-footed in his previous innings but he brought the shuffle and the hustle back in an innings where he passed 14,000 runs. He’s miles ahead of the next player on the ladder - Pollard, on 10,836 - and, after the match, indicated that he is gunning for the T20 World Cup. Bowlers, beware.
Starc finds rhythm
After leaking runs and failing to take a wicket in his first two outings, in which he posted figures of 0-40 and 0-49, Starc found some of the T20 rhythm he has been searching for. He opened the bowling, made the most of some early swing and was rewarded with the wicket of Andre Fletcher with just his third ball, when Fletcher attempted to carve away a good length delivery only to find Marsh at deep point.
But while Starc finished with the best figures of 1-15, Hazlewood has dipped after an impressive first match. The West Indies batters have hustled Hazlewood well, forcing field changes and using their feet to negate his line and length and his three overs yielded 33 runs.
Where are the contenders?
Much has been made of the opportunities available to players on this tour with several internationals absent and a T20 World Cup on the horizon. But, on the evidence so far, Australia’s contenders have hardly been convincing. Only Mitch Marsh has made a half-century - he did so in the first two matches but was out lbw for 9 while trying to sweep Fabien Allen - while Carey and Turner made modest contributions of 13 and 24, respectively, in their first outings of the series.
Meredith took three wickets in his 3.5 overs but was pummelled by Gayle and went for nearly 12 runs and over. The series is lost and on current form there is a significant gulf between these two sides.
Yes, there are first choice players missing, but Justin Langer will undoubtedly be looking for some of the current squad to make an impact in the remaining three matches of this series.
