If ever anyone needed proof that T20 and 50-over cricket are entirely different beasts, Australia and West Indies provided it in the first ODI in Barbados.
Completely outplayed by West Indies in the five-match T20 series, in which they won just a single dead rubber, Australia blasted the home side away in the longer format, thanks largely to the formidable powerplay bowling partnership of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Yes; Australia’s performance with the bat was an improvement, with a 51-run opening partnership between debutants Josh Philippe and Ben McDermott providing a stable start, while Alex Carey - making his captaincy debut - had the time to shift up through the gears to a fine half-century, ably supported by Ashton Turner.
Yes; the pitch was somewhat two-paced and sticky, making batting tricky and a total of 252, which could be considered modest by today’s high-scoring standards, defendable.
And yes; the West Indies batters contributed to their own demise; Jason Holder walking into the most obvious short ball traps and obligingly pulling the ball straight to Adam Zampa at fine leg a prime example.
But the match was surely decided in the first ten overs of the West Indies chase, in which they made 35 runs and lost six wickets; Kieron Pollard’s powerful half-century merely prolonged the home side’s agony.
Starc started Australia’s tour of the Caribbean looking for rhythm and after tuning up in the T20Is he had the whole band swinging to his beat.
The left-arm quick pulled out all the factors that have made him one of the world’s most destructive ODI bowlers. Early swing, tick. Pin point yorkers, tick. Powerplay wickets, tick. Remove the one batter holding the innings together, tick, tick, tick.
The few bonus ticks came from cleaning up the tail just completed the perfect Starc checklist. He now has eight five-wicket ODI hauls, just one five-fer short of Brett Lee’s Australian record. It’s surely just a matter of time until that tumbles with the stumps of Starc’s future victims.
It was going to be his day from the very first ball he bowled, a delivery that was straying slightly leg side and should probably have been easily despatched by Evin Lewis, who instead squirted a leading edge for Starc to claim the catch.
And if his first wicket came from an average ball, his second was a peach; a lovely inswinger that curved its way between Jason Mohammed’s bat and pad to demolish off stump. When you’re on, you’re on. And Starc was on.
So was Josh Hazlewood; Shimron Hetmyer was one of several West Indies batters who failed to adapt to the sticky pitch, sending another leading edge into Hazlewood’s outstretched hand. And, where Hazlewood’s consistent line and length had become somewhat predictable and negated by batters moving about the crease in the T20s, here it was naggingly effective.
Having two such effective weapons surely made life easier for Australia’s newest captain, who could afford to experiment with fielding positions and burn a couple of reviews from such a dominant position.
“I think tonight it was set up really well in the first ten [overs] to be able to explore a little bit, to continue to put the foot down, and try to take wickets and put them under pressure,” said Carey after the match. “I guess, for me, every time I go out there in the middle it's learning the game still, tactically.
“I've had a lot of knowledge around me tonight and I've had a lot of support over the last 24 hours.
“I like to think I'm pretty calm out there and reading the game and I guess making decisions on what's required. So, yeah, tonight was a good start.”
The way Carey had earlier constructed his innings was a confirmation, if any was needed, that he feels more comfortable in the 50-over format, where he has the time to play himself in and, gradually and seamlessly, shift through the gears to the point where he could bring up his half-century by carving Jason Holder over the long-off boundary.
“I guess, in T20 Cricket, we know batting through the middle can be quite difficult if you don't have the raw strength that some of the big guys around the world have,” said Carey. “Pollard, [Andre] Russell, Hardik Pandya; these guys can can clear the pickets pretty easily and unfortunately I'm not quite the same size and don’t hit the ball like they do.
“But I guess, moving back into One-Day cricket, there’s a bit more time there. I guess you get a bit more of an understanding what the game requires, batters around me are playing really well, [Ashton Turner] came out and put the foot down and kept the run rate ticking when I probably faced a few dot balls more than I would have liked.
But I think understanding T20 cricket through the middle is difficult. I do bat a lot of the time at the top of the order for the Strikers and then coming back in through the middle into One-Day cricket is a nice change, so I think it's just time in the middle, understanding the game conditions and what's required of me at the time.”
While Carey is currently keeping the captain’s chair warm for the injured Aaron Finch, he will undoubtedly have more opportunities to lead at some point in the future - in one format or another.
But, for a first run, it could hardly have been more satisfactory and if he can rely on such performances from his strike bowlers on a regular basis, this could be the first win of many.
