BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC- Captain Steve Smith says his batsmen’s ability to negotiate the spin of Sunil Narine is the reason for Australia’s triumphant campaign in the Tri-Nation series which ended on Sunday.
World Champions Australia defeated lowly ranked West Indies by 58 runs in Sunday’s final at Kensington Oval to claim the title, after the home side had knocked-out the number three- ranked South Africa.
Set 271, West Indies squandered an opening stand of 49 to fold for 212 off 45.4 overs, after suffering a middle order collapse.
“I thought we were able to do well because we negated Narine,” said Smith.
“We batted well against him and he being the trump card for the West Indies, it worked well”.
West Indies, who entered the series as massive underdogs, played well to win one of two games on each of the three legs to finish second behind the
Australians in the standings.
The West Indies’ performances included a hundred run victory against South Africa who were bundled out for 185 after they piled up 285.
“The West Indies will be able to take away a lot from the series because they scrapped well against the number one and number three teams,” said Smith.
“Playing against them was not easy and I must say they played good cricket.”
The Australian skipper praised the fighting spirit of Jason Holder’s men who were able to stage remarkable recoveries from precarious positions in several matches during the series.
“What struck me the most about this West Indies team was the fact that they fought well,” Smith declared.
“We had them three wickets down for little in one of the games and they went on to get 280, against South Africa they lost four early wickets and still came back to get enough runs to win the game. I like how they scrapped throughout the series and this is something they must be proud of.”
