- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 29/Jul 16:41

Aussies romp to 5-0 T20 series sweep of Windies

THE West Indies team had a rough end to their home tour against Australia as they suffered a three-wicket loss in the final T20 at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts on July 28 to fall to a crushing 5-0 series loss. After succumbing to a 3-0 series loss to the Aussies in the preceding Test series, the regional team would have been hoping for better fortunes in the shorter format. However, the visitors were unrelenting and they capped off a flawless Caribbean tour by chasing a 171-run target with three overs to spare to seal the fifth and final T20. Sent in to have first strike for the fifth straight time in the series, the Windies were bowled out for a modest 170 from 19.4 overs. Guyanese middle-order batsman Shimron Hetmyer top-scored with 52 off 31 balls, with his countryman Sherfane Rutherford making 35 off 17. After Rutherford was bowled by Glenn Maxwell (one for six) in the eighth over, Hetmyer and former West Indies captain Jason Holder (20 off 15) had a 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket before the Men in Maroon slipped to 111 for five in the 13th over. The Windies tried to pick up the tempo at the death, but they lost five wickets at the back end and were also guilty of not utilising their full quota of overs. Nathan Ellis got the wickets of Romario Shepherd (eight) and Matthew Forde (15) in the latter overs to finish with figures of two for 32, with left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis leading the attack with three for 41 – including the scalps of Shai Hope (nine) and Brandon King (11) in the power play. The Aussies had a rocky start to their chase as they slipped to 25 for three in the third over as Maxwell (duck), Josh Inglis (ten) and skipper Mitchell Marsh (14) fell early. Batting at number five, Tim David (30 off 12) swung the momentum in the Aussies' favour with a brutal cameo which had four sixes. The Aussies got to 67 for four at the end of the power play and were full in control halfway through the chase as they raced to 124 for five at the ten-over mark. Though a miserly spell from Akeal Hosein (three for 17) temporarily stalled the Aussies in the middle overs, timely cameos from Cam Green (32 off 18), Mitchell Owen (37 off 17) and Aaron Hardie (28 not out) took the Aussies comfortably to 173 for seven after 17 overs. Holder and Alzarri Joseph got two wickets apiece, but the latter left the field of play in the 11th over after delivering the first ball of his third over. Summarised Scores: WEST INDIES – 170 from 19.4 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 52, Sherfane Rutherford 35; Ben Dwarshuis 3/41, Nathan Ellis 2/32) vs AUSTRALIA – 173/7 from 17 overs (Mitchell Owen 37, Cam Green 32; Akeal Hosein 3/17, Alzarri Joseph 2/21). Australia won by three wickets. The post Aussies romp to 5-0 T20 series sweep of Windies appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.