GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – A listless West Indies crashed to a humiliating six-wicket loss to Australia, as their dreams of a semi-final spot in the World Twenty20 Championship faded into oblivion yesterday.
Needing to win by 24 runs or more, West Indies were not even remotely close to their objective as they were rolled over for a disappointing 105 off 19 overs, before the Aussies marched to their target with 22 balls to spare.
For the full house at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium, the result was a huge disappointment after the regional squad had promised so much with their win over India by 14 runs in their second match of the Super Eights on Sunday.
Winning the toss was perhaps the brightest spot for the Windies as two balls later the rut begun when talismanic captain Chris Gayle was comprehensively bowled by fast bowler Dirk Nannes off the second ball of the innings, after punching the first ball straight down the ground for four.
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul tried to counter-attack in a second wicket stand of 34 off 28 balls but they struggled to find the acceleration needed.
The right-handed Sarwan top scored with 26 from 31 balls while his veteran left-handed partner got 24 from 18 with four fours.
Attempting to up the scoring rate, Chanderpaul held out to mid-on off left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson (2-22) and Dwayne Bravo was run out for six in unfortunate circumstances when Sarwan’s full blooded drive deflected from Johnson’s hand onto the stumps at 52 for three in the eighth over.
In the next over with just four runs added, Narsingh Deonarine held out in the deep without scoring off leg-spinner Steve Smith (3-20) and Denesh Ramdin’s horrible run with the bat continued when he squirted Johnson into Brad Haddin’s gloves for one at 60 for five in the 10th over. Big Kieron Pollard smashed a four over cover and a massive six over mid-wicket to raise West Indies hopes but his end too came swiftly when he was drawn out the crease by Smith and smartly stumped for 13 at 77 for six.
Darren Sammy’s return catch off the very next ball was snared low down by Smith as West Indies continued to tumble and when Sarwan perished in the deep off off-spinner David Hussey (2-3) at 82 for eight in the 15th over, their hopes of a competitive total disappeared. David Warner then dominated a 31-run opening stand with Shane Watson (5), scoring 25 from 12 balls with four fours and a six before both fell in the space of two balls.
Even then, it meant precious little as Haddin cracked 42 from 46 balls to engineer a 47-run, third wicket stand with captain Michael Clarke (16) to ensure Australia remained unbeaten in the tournament.
