SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – West Indies’ miserable Australian summer ended in further gloom on yesterday, when they plunged to an embarrassing eight-wicket loss in the second and final Twenty20 International at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Another haphazard batting display meant the beleaguered tourists could only muster 138 for seven off their 20 overs and David Warner’s blitzkrieg that yielded 67 from 29 balls formed the impetus behind Australia’s rapid response, as they sped to 142 for two off 11.4 overs.
The left-handed stroke-maker lit up the innings with the second fastest half-century ever in T20Is as he posted 99 off 46 balls for the first wicket with the in-form Shane Watson who required just 33 balls for his unbeaten 62.
It meant West Indies finished the tour winless following their 4-0 loss in the preceding five-match one-day series and their 38-run defeat in the opening T20I in Hobart on Sunday and losing captain Chris Gayle accepts that they were completely outplayed.
“It has been a tough summer. We have been hammered into the ground and have lost fair and square,” he said.
The outcome was never really in doubt after West Indies lost their talismanic captain Chris Gayle cheaply for 12 as they slipped to 51 for four in the ninth over, and once Warner pounced on fast bowler Kemar Roach to smash three sixes in the opening over, the death knell had sounded.
Languishing at 98 for seven in the 17th over, West Indies needed a feisty, unbroken, eighth-wicket stand of 40 off 21 balls between Narsingh Deonarine and Darren Sammy, to reach their eventual total.
The left-handed Deonarine cracked 36 off 29 balls with four fours while Sammy blasted sixes off the last two balls of the innings to finish on 26 from 11 balls.
Their effort saved the side some embarrassment, after they won the toss and opted to bat first on a decent strip.
After a quiet start, the innings came to life when Gayle whipped the second ball of the third over from pacer Ryan Harris over mid-wicket for four and then deposited the next delivery 10 rows back over square leg for six.
These ominous signs quickly vanished as Gayle, attempting another big hit off the fourth delivery, top edged a simple catch to Steve Smith at third man at 26 for one.
Two balls later, Runako Morton completed a miserable tour when he edged the first ball he faced to Cameron White at second slip, to give Harris his second wicket of the over.
Opener Travis Dowlin, whose 31 needed 32 balls, partnered with Kieron Pollard in adding a painful 23 from 24 balls for the third wicket as the Aussies tightened their grip.
The big-hitting Pollard never really found his groove and his nine-ball labour over five ended when he missed a slog at a straight ball from medium pacer Watson and was bowled at 50 for three at the end of the eighth over.
With just one run added, Wavel Hinds (0) engineered his own demise, calling for a suicidal single behind point off the second ball he had faced and coming up short of his ground.
Struggling on 59 for four after 10 overs, the Windies slipped further when Dowlin’s fighting innings was terminated by Smith’s brilliance on the deep mid-wicket boundary as the fielder leapt high to haul in a sensational catch to give debutant Daniel Christian his first international wicket.
Dwayne Smith (8) and Denesh Ramdin (9) then failed to fire leaving Deonarine and Sammy to rescue the innings with sensible lower-order hitting.
Warner’s fireworks then signalled the carnage to come. He smashed successive deliveries from Roach over square leg for the maximum and drove the hapless bowler through mid off for four before smacking him effortlessly over long on for another six as the first over of the innings went for 24.
With Roach disappearing from the attack, Warner pounded five fours and seven sixes and Watson carved out four fours and four sixes, as they ambushed the remaining bowlers in a savage, sustained assault.