Maxwell Leads the Way for Aussie Batsmen
After winning the opening match of the series, Australia knew that a victory in Adelaide would guarantee them the series victory.
David Warner and Josh Inglis were the first to the middle of the pitch for Australia but were unable to gain the start that the Aussies were hoping for.
Sitting on just four runs, off the bowl of Jason Holder, Inglis tried to pull a ball off his hip but didn’t quite find the right contact and instead looped it into the hair and the hands of Johnson Charles.
Captain Mitchell Marsh then joined Warner in the middle with Australia at just 14/1. The two veterans were able to find some success as they slowly grew the Aussie number.
With Australia at 57 runs, Marsh put a ball into the air at mid-on and Holder was able to sprint under it and make the catch for West Indies second wicket.
Not long after, David Warner faced a similar fate as he scooped a ball high in the air to mid-off and it was caught by Sherfane Rutherford.
Australia was at just 64/3 at the time.
Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell were now batting for Australia and what Maxwell did was nothing short of spectacular.
The all-rounder who has found a next level ever since the World Cup dominated the West Indies bowlers. He carried Australia to a huge number on the back of his 120 not out. He blasted eight 6s and 12 boundaries in front of the Australian faithful.
Stoinis added 16 of his own before being caught out with Australia at 146/4. It proved to be the last wicket West indies would get as Tim David came in and played a perfect partner for Maxwell’s brilliance.
He protected his wickets and attacked when he could en route to a 31 run, not out performance.
With Maxwell’s amazing performance, Australia finished on 241/4. This is their highest T20I score ever on home soil.
Australian Bowling Good Enough to Push them Across the Finish Line
With a huge number on the board, the pressure was on the West Indies batsmen to play aggressive and look for runs anywhere they could get them.
With that however comes the risk of playing over aggressive and giving up cheap wickets.
This showed early as with just five runs to his name, opener Brandon King swung a ball straight to Tim David for Australia’s opening wicket.
West Indies got a quality performance from captain Rovman Powell who smacked through 63 runs. Unfortunately, he was sandwiched by Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford who both had ducks.
It wasn’t a walk in the park for Australia as West Indies put up a fight but never intensely threatened the Aussie score.
37 runs from Andre Russell and 28 from Jason Holder helped contribute to their team pushing by the 200 mark but they couldn’t get all the way.
There was controversy late as Australia thought they had the match won when Alzarri Joseph seemed to be run out. The ball was sent to Mitchell Marsh who quickly threw it back to the bowler’s end stumps where Spencer Johnson snagged it and took the bails off.
Umpire Gerard Abood however thought Joseph returned to his crease and claims no appeal was made by an Australian player so he didn’t call for the third umpire.
The Aussie’s were understandably frustrated but were able to calm themselves and hold the West Indies to 207/9 to claim victory.
