Published: Mar 28, 2014, 04:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 29, 2014, 02:07 PM (IST)
By Devarchit Varma
Mar 28, 2014
Glenn Maxwell and Brad Hodge‘s significant contributions helped Australia set a 179-run target against the West Indies, in the 23rd match of the ICC World T20 2014 tournament on Friday. Electing to bat first, Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Maxwell and Hodge’s knocks ensured that they reach 178 for eight from 20 overs in the T20 World Cup match.
Australia lost their way after a positive start as they lost three wickets in quick succession. Aaron Finch and David Warner added but quick wickets hurt their chances. Finch was the first one to go as he was cleaned up by Marlon Samuels on the fourth ball of the third over.
Warner was the next to go, as in the fifth over of the match West Indies’ star spinner Samuel Badree foxed the explosive opener successfully. Warner tried to cut the ball late, but failed to get the bat down on time.
Australia slipped further when Shane Watson fell due to poor foot work. The right-handed batsman came down to defend the ball but was beaten by the sharp turn. The West Indies’ wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who missed out on dislodging the bails on the first attempt had all the time in the world as Watson did not move his back foot, which was positioned on the crease line. Ramdin managed the stumping on the second attempt and Watson was declared out.
Maxwell and George Bailey tried reviving Australia’s innings after the early blows with their brief stand for the fourth wicket, as they added 36 runs. Maxwell played the role of an attacker has he slammed 24 from those 34 runs.
Bailey fell in the 10th over – the Australian captain tried to hit a short-ish delivery off Samuels but found Darren Sammy at the short-midwicket. Bailey had hit that hard but Sammy is known for taking some really sharp catches.
Maxwell continued despite the fall of wickets at the other end. He ended that over from Samuels with a six and a boundary, and in the next over, he smashed another four off Dwayne Bravo over the long-on area.
Badree returned to bowl his final over in the game and was clobbered for a six over the long-on fielder by Maxwell. This is when the anxious side of the explosive batsman came to fore. After hitting a six off the first ball, Maxwell tried a reverse sweep on the second. On the third ball, he hit in the air in a bid to clear Bravo, who was standing near the ropes at deep midwicket. Bravo took a fine catch and the West Indians were jubilant.
Maxwell’s 45 came off just 22 balls, studded with three sixes and five boundaries.
Hodge and James Faulkner got the resposibility of taking Australia ahead, and they did well by adding 52 runs for the sixth wicket. This was Australia’s best partnership in the match. Hodge started off with caution, as he concentrated on taking singles and doubles.
He did punish the lose ones when the opportunity came. Bravo bowled two lose balls in the 17th over and Hodge duly punished them with a boundary and a six. Hodge was dismissed by Narine in the 19th over, as he missed out to connect the bat to the ball while attempting a reverse sweep.
For the West Indies, Badree, Narine and Samuels claimed three wickets each. Narine was the pick among them with the figures of 4-0-19-2.
Earlier in the match, Australia captain George Bailey won the toss and elected to bat against the defending champions. James Muirhead and James Faulkner were inducted into the side in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile and Brad Hogg.
On the other hand, the West Indies retained their playing eleven.
Brief scores:
Australia 178 for 8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 45, Brad Hodge 30; Samuel Badree 2 for 37, Marlon Samuels 2 for 20, Sunil Narine 2 for 19) vs West Indies.
ICC World T20 2014 schedule: Match time table with venue details
ICC World T20 2014 Points Table and Team Standings
(Devarchit Varma is a reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
