Australia Vs West Indies Played at Nottingham 

Brief Scorecard 

Australia 288 All Out ( NM Coulter –Nile 92, SPD Smith 73,AT Carey 45 ,CR Brathwaite 3/67, AD Russell 2/41,SSCotrell 2/46,OThomas 2/63)beat West Indies 273 /9 ( SD Hope 68, JOHolder51,N Puran 40, HO Hetmeyer21, CH Gayle 21, A Nurse 19, M Starc 5/46, PJ Cummins 2/41) by 15 Runs.

In an incidents affected, poorly supervised match reigning champion Australia survived great scare of West Indies winning by 15 runs. West Indies floored Kangaroos with fearsome fast short bowling. At 4/38 and 5/79 team Australia was looking down the barrel. But champion batsman Smith (73) pulling out all the tricks from his hat  kept his focus going held the innings together. . First with Wicket Keeper Carey (45 ) and then with pace bowling all rounder Coulter Nile (92) , Smith lived up to the tail wagging character of Kangaroos.

Australia posted a challenging 288 before getting all out. West Indies despite of lopsided umpiring was well on course of pulling off a stunning victory. But strategic decision of Aron Flinch holding Starc back till last assault and West Indians falling trap to aggressive stroke play caused them losing the match by 15 runs. Without taking away any credit from the reigning champions Australia’s strategic win by 15 runs against fiery West Indies,we must say that the high voltage match was marred by very ordinary umpiring decisions.

Holder won the toss and put Australia to bat. West Indian pacers Osanne Thomas ,  SS Cotrell , AD Russel , JO Holder were fast and furious . The Australian top order was dismantled in no time. Flinch , Warner , Khawaja and Maxwell were perished in no time. Stoinis also did not stay long.  When all these were happening Smith stood firm absorbing the great spell of fast bowling . First Wicket Keeper Batsman A Carey gave Smith great support. The sixth wicket partnership of 68 steadied the rocking boat a bit. But when Carey also left scoring 47 runs , at 6/147 in the 31st over Australia was looking miserable again. But the courage and determination of Smith transpired on Coulter Nile, usually not much known about his batting. Smith and Coulter-Nile counter attacked as West Indies kept on bowling in one strategy only. 102 runs 7th wicket stand brought Australia back in the game. Smith scored 74 before Thomas removed him. Coulter-Nile got out at 92. One must admire the courageous batting of Coulter Nile . His 60 balls 92 contained 8 fours and 2 sixes. His fire works made the difference. The feat rightly earned him Player of the match .

Australia was all out scoring 288 in 49 overs. West Indies bowlers bowled fast, short. Brathwaite with 3/67 was the peak of the bowlers, Russell(2/41), Cottrell (2/47 ) and O Thomas (2/63) shared the wickets . West Indies badly missed a quality spinner. When the balls got soft pacers could not extract the bounce or movement. 

Most of the teams after getting reduced to 5/79 would be rolled over to a poor score. But Australian Cricket team known as Kangaroos in most of the time have tails wagging. Kangaroos have long and powerful hind legs . Smith stood like a rock in front of surging West Indian attack. 

During West Indies chase umpiring quality deteriorated to the extent that at least half a dozen dubious decisions were given. Even Gayle alone challenged three before getting out . ICC must be very careful about setting umpires and must try and cut out umpiring mistakes. But this was not the only reason West Indies loosing their way. ShaiHope (68), Nicolas Puran (40) and Holder ( 51) kept them in the hunt after getting reduced to 2/31 by the fifth over. At 6/216 in the 39th over West Indies was well on the course. Holder and Brathwaite were together at the wicket. Responsible business as usual batting was essentialat that stage. Aussie captain held the tramp card M Starc for the last throw of the dice. Starcresponded. West Indies batsmen batting in one gear succumbed. When the allotted over finished they could reach 273 all out still 15 runs short. Starc got 5/46 and Cummins 2/41.  West Indies lost a golden opportunity for putting their nose in front in the long distance rally of 9 matches. Champions survived a major trauma.

BDST: 0749 HRS, JUN 07, 2019
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