Owen's dream debut sets up winning start for Australia
After sweeping the Test series 3-0, Australia made a winning start to the T20I series too as they beat West Indies by three wickets in the @L0$ in Jamaica on Sunday. The start to Andre Russell's farewell series was sullied, first by Ben Dwarshuis (4-36) and then through a combined batting effort led by debutant Mitchell Owen (50 off 27) and Cameron Green (51 off 26). Though they ended up losing seven wickets, Australia still made short work of West Indies' 189/8 by chasing it down in the 19th over.
Brandon King and Shai Hope flew off the blocks after Australia chose to bowl. They hit two fours in each of the first three overs before left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly stopped them in their tracks. He had King stumped for 18 but Hope hit him for a six to maintain the 10-an-over scoring rate. He and Roston Chase pushed West Indies to 56/1 in the PowerPlay, and then hit the next gear soon after. Adam Zampa bowled one quiet over - in the seventh - worth four runs but the carnage was kept up in the next three overs as Connolly went for 15 followed by 12 and 16 taken off Zampa and Sean Abbott. Chase quickly took centrestage to go after the bowlers, hitting Connolly for two fours and a six and Abbott for four fours. With that, West Indies got to 103/1 at the halfway stage.
Chase brought up his 26-ball fifty in the 11th over but was dismissed by Ben Dwarshuis in the 13th with a slower ball that the batter mistimed to Glenn Maxwell at long-on. Shimron Hetmyer arrived and seamlessly joined the big-hitting crew as he too chanced his arms immediately. Owen dismissed Hope for a 39-ball 55 in the 16th over but Hetmyer kept West Indies on course for a total close to or even beyond 200. From 183/4 in 18 overs however, came a dramatic tunraround. Dwarshuis took out Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder in four deliveries to deny West Indies a big finish. Hetmyer then fell in the 20th to Nathan Ellis as West Indies finished with 189/8.
Jake Fraser-McGurk was removed in an early wobble but Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis steadied the ship in a 20-run fifth over from Russell where the two batters hit three sixes. Alzarri Joseph dismissed Marsh at the start of the sixth over, but he too conceded three sixes - to new batter Green. With that, Australia exited the PowerPlay at 64/2. West Indies hopes were then kept up by Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie, who struck early through the middle overs to dismiss Inglis and Glenn Maxwell. But that brought Green and Owen together, for the match-turning stand of 80 from 40 deliveries.
Playing in his penultimate international fixture, Russell was shown no mercy when he returned to bowl his second over. Between two Owen sixes to start and end the over, the two batters ran hard to take 18 from the over and kickstart Australia's counterpunch. Owen then hit Hosein for three successive sixes in the 12th over, the first of which travelled out of the ground over square leg. Green went shoulder to shoulder with his free-spirited batting partner when he hit a four and a six off Holder in the 14th over, which ended with four byes off a short ball that was too high for Hope to pouch behind the stumps. In the 15th over, Green got to his 25-ball fifty with a four through deep mid-wicket but was dismissed on the very next delivery - caught by Holder at long on.
Owen carried on in the company of Connolly, who sent one from Chase to the roof down the ground with a 100m six. That brought the equation down to 21 off 24. Owen then proceeded to cap off a dream by scoring a fifty apart from the solitary wicket he had taken, but he too fell one ball later - to Joseph. By the end of that over, however, West Indies only needed 10 to get from 18 deliveries. Holder delayed that a touch by dismissing Connolly but Sean Abbott and Dwarshuis saw the chase through in the penultimate over.
@B0$ West Indies 189/8 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 60, Shai Hope 55; Ben Dwarshuis 4-36) lost to Australia 190/7 in 18.5 overs (Cameron Green 51, Mitchell Owen 50; Gudakesh Motie 2-29) by 3 wickets
