West Indies vs Australia 1st T20I Match Report: WI vs AUS 1st T20: Andre Russell and Obed McCoy help West Indies beat Australia in first T20I match

In the first match of the T20 series played between West Indies and Australia, the host West Indies team defeated Australia. In the match, the Caribbean team scored 145 runs for the loss of 6 wickets on the basis of Andre Russell’s swashbuckling fifty. In reply, the Australian team could not take advantage of Mitchell Marsh’s half-century and lost all their wickets for 127 runs in 16 overs, getting caught in the vortex of the Caribbean bowlers.

In this first T20 International, visiting Australia team won the toss and decided to bowl first. The West Indies team, who came to bat first, lost their four big wickets within 65 runs. Evin Lewis 0 runs, Chris Gayle 4 runs, Lendl Simmons 27 runs and Nicholas Pooran returned to the pavilion after scoring 17 runs.

Russell’s first international T20 fifty

This was followed by the entry of Andre Russell on the pitch. The swashbuckling Caribbean all-rounder scored the first half-century of his T20 International career while batting relentlessly. Russell hit 51 off 28 balls, which included 5 sixes and 3 fours, before being bowled by Hazlewood in the second ball of the final over. On his own, West Indies scored 145 runs losing 6 wickets in 20 overs.

Finch out for 8 runs

In response, the target of 146 runs was in front of the Australian team, which was not such a big target. But the score of 8 runs was caught by Lewis at the hands of his captain Aaron Finch (4) Fabian Allen. Australia had lost 4 wickets in 89 runs in a short span of time. This included the wickets of Matthew Wade (33 off 14 balls), Josh Philippe (1 run) and Moises Henriques (16 runs).

Walsh gave shocks

After some time Walsh also dismissed McDermott (2) and Australia lost their fifth wicket for 108 runs. However, at one end, Mitchell Marsh was persistent. Marsh smashed 51 runs in 31 balls which included 2 sixes and 5 fours. But in the 13th over, Walsh got him out on the score of 117 and with this the match became exciting.

McCoy wreaks havoc in thrilling final moments

Australia needed 27 runs in 42 balls but Obed McCoy bowled brilliantly to turn the match around completely. McCoy dismissed Ashton Agar (1) in the 14th over. After this, in the 15th over, Walsh dismissed Dan Christian. Now Australia needed 20 runs in 30 balls and they had only 2 wickets left. McCoy did not wait long and dismissed Starc (3) and Hazlewood (0) in the fourth and final balls of the 16th over to give West Indies a resounding 18-run victory. Obed McCoy, who took 4 wickets for 26 runs in four overs, was the man of the match.