Windies crash to second loss

PERTH—West Indies were blown away by another Mitchell Starc five wicket haul, as they plunged to their second defeat in three days at the WACA Ground here yesterday. Chasing 267 for victory, West Indies folded for 212 off 38.1 overs despite opener Kieran Powell’s polished 83 off 90 balls, with left-arm seamer Starc dismantling the innings with five for 32. He wiped out the top order, removing Chris Gayle (4), Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) and Darren Bravo (14) all via the lbw route, as West Indies spectacularly tumbled to 33 for three after eight overs.

Powell and Dwayne Bravo, who hit 45, stitched up the innings with a 126- run, fourth wicket stand that put the Windies on course victory but Starc returned in a second spell to trigger another slide that saw the tourists lose their last seven wickets for 53 runs. Off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, who came in for a pummelling from Powell and Bravo, supported with four for 63. The 54-run defeat left the Windies trailing 0-2 in the five-match series. Earlier, George Bailey hit his maiden ODI century, a sterling unbeaten 125, as Australia recovered from a disastrous position of 98 for six to reach 266 for seven off their 50 overs.

His 100-run, seventh wicket partnership with James Faulkner, who hit 39, proved the difference in the innings that was rocked by captain and medium pacer Darren Sammy who claimed three for 48. Sent in, Australia lost opener Usman Khawaja for three with the score on 16 for one in the fifth over, when the left-hander flicked fast bowler Kemar Roach to Powell at short mid-wicket who dived low to his right to pull off a brilliant two-handed catch. His opening partner Aaron Finch (11) followed him soon afterward to another piece of brilliant fielding, pulling a short one from seamer Jason Holder for Darren Bravo to take a sharp catch diving high to his left at short mid-wicket.

Phil Hughes (21) and captain Michael Clarke (16) added 31 for the third wicket before the left-handed Hughes picked out Darren Bravo at mid-wicket again at 56 for three in the 13th over by Sammy. His dismissal triggered a slide where three wickets fell for 42 runs, as West Indies took control of the encounter at 98 for six in the 24th over. However, Bailey joined with rookie Faulkner to stymie the Windies advance, and steer Australia into a match-winning position. The right-hander emerged from a cautious start to strike ten fours and four sixes in an innings that required 110 balls while Faulkner struck three fours in his 67-ball knock.

Bailey accelerated late in the innings, raising three figures with a six over long on off Roach in the penultimate over before blasting 25 runs from the final over sent down by medium pacer Dwayne Bravo. For the second successive game, West Indies were rocked by Starc at the start of their innings. Gayle played back to a full length delivery off the fourth ball of the left-armer’s first over and was lbw with the Windies on ten for one in the second over and two balls later, Sarwan’s poor run continued when he missed a forward defensive prod and was trapped in front.

Left-hander Darren Bravo dazzled briefly with three sparkling boundaries in 14 off 20 balls before he became Starc’s third victim, at the end of the eighth over. Despite the precaious position, Powell and Dwayne Bravo played positively from the outset to deny Australia and further immediate success.

Australia vs West Indies
AUSTRALIA
A Finch c DM Bravo b Holder ...............................11
U Khawaja c Powell b Roach.................................. 3
P Hughes c DM Bravo b Sammy..................... 21
M Clarke b DJ Bravo .....................................................16
G Bailey not out .............................................................125
M Wade c Sammy b Narine................................. 16
G Maxwell b Sammy .....................................................0
J Faulkner c Powell b Sammy............................ 39
M Johnson not out ........................................................16
Extras (lb10, w9) ............................................................19
TOTAL (7 wkts, 50 overs) .................................266
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Khawaja, 4.2 overs),
2-25 (Finch, 7.2), 3-56 (Hughes, 12.4), 4-56
(Clarke, 13.1), 5-93 (Wade, 23), 6-98
(Maxwell, 23.4), 7-198 (Faulkner, 44.2)
Bowling: Roach 10-0-51-1, Holder 10-1-56-1
(w5), Sammy 10-0-48-3 (w2), Bravo 10-0-
67-1 (w2), Narine 10-0-34-1.

WEST INDIES
C Gayle lbw b Starc .........................................................4
K Powell lbw b Starc ...................................................83
R Sarwan lbw b Starc ...................................................0
DM Bravo lbw b Starc ................................................14
DJ Bravo c wkp Wade b Maxwell .................45
K Pollard c Finch b Maxwell .....................................1
D Thomas c wkp Wade b Starc .........................0
D Sammy c Faulkner b Maxwell........................ 8
J Holder run out ..................................................................9
S Narine st Wade b Maxwell .............................24
K Roach not out ..................................................................0
Extras (lb13, w11) ..........................................................24
TOTAL (all out; 38.1 overs)................................ 212
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Gayle, 1.4 overs), 2-10
(Sarwan, 2), 3-33 (DM Bravo, 8), 4-159 (DJ
Bravo, 28), 5-166 (Powell, 29.3), 6-166
(Thomas, 29.4), 7-168 (Pollard, 30.1), 8-179
(Sammy, 34.4), 9-209 (Narine, 37), 10-212
(Holder, 38.1)
Bowling: McKay 6-0-32-0 (w3), Starc 8-1-
32-5 (w4), Faulkner 7-0-40-0 (w1),
Johnson 9-0-32-0 (w3), Maxwell 8.1-1-63-4.
Result: Australia won by 54 runs.
Series: Australia lead five-match series 2-0.
Man-of-the-Match: George Bailey.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Nigel Llong, Paul Reiffel; TV – Asad
Rauf.