West Indies defeated Australia by 14 runs at Kensington Oval on Friday to win the second Twenty20 international and draw the two-game series 1-1. Chasing a modest 161-run target, Australia were well-set at 75-2 at the halfway stage, but their chase slowed with off-break bowler Marlon Samuels taking three crucial wickets to dismiss skipper George Bailey (24), Mike Hussey (14) and Matthew Wade (17).
Opener David Warner top-scored with a 43-ball 58 with five fours and three sixes. Seamer Fidel Edwards, who had dismissed Shane Watson for nought in the first over, returned to turn the screw by getting rid of Daniel Christian and Brett Lee with successive deliveries in the 19th over to finish with three for 23. That left Australia seven wickets down and needing 19 off the final over, bowled by Dwayne Bravo.
Kieron Pollard took a fine catch in the deep to dismiss David Hussey (19) off the fourth ball with 17 still needed and the game was up as Australia finished on 146 for nine.
Bravo had also played a key role in the dismissal of dangerman Warner, running out the opener with a direct hit in the 13th over with the score on 98 for three. “It was a great start from the West Indies, I think we pulled it back to about par, 160, and I thought we were on course to knock it off,” said Bailey. “They put pressure on us. The wicket of David Warner was huge, run-outs change matches.” West Indies captain Darren Sammy admitted his team should have scored more. “We knew it was a 180-plus pitch. We tried Polly and myself up the order to try and get some momentum — that didn’t work but we kept going,” said Sammy. “The work we’ve been doing in the camp and throughout the series has been paying off and I want to ask the boys to keep doing that. We want to keep doing well in the Tests and hopefully continue the good results.”
West Indies squandered a blistering start to be bowled out for just 160. After winning the toss, West Indies looked good for a huge score when they raced to 65-0 from six overs and 110-2 by the 10th. Openers Dwayne Smith and Johnson Charles got them off to a flying start. Charles made 37 off 21 balls with six fours and a six before he was first man out in the seventh over.
Big-hitting Pollard, who had scored a maiden T20 fifty on Tuesday, was caught behind off Lee after making just one in the eighth over with the total on 76.
Smith top-scored thanks to a 34-ball innings of 63, which featured six fours and four huge sixes, but once he was caught in the deep off slow bowler Xavier Doherty, the runs dried up. Bravo, with 23 off 24 balls, was the only other batsman to reach double figures as West Indies lost their last eight wickets for just 40 runs before they were bowled out with two balls to spare. Lee was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 3 for 23. The two sides, who also drew the one-day series 2-2, will now play a three-Test series beginning in Barbados on April 7.
