West Indies v Australia, 4th ODI, St Kitts

Brutal Gayle guides strong chase

July 4, 2008

25 overs West Indies 140 for 2 (Gayle 64*, Sarwan 63) need another 143 runs to beat Australia 282 for 8 (Symonds 87, D Hussey 50)
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How they were out

	Andrew Symonds top scored with 87 at better than a run a ball © AFP

Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan led the most positive batting display West Indies have produced in the series as they chased 283 for victory in St Kitts. At the halfway mark West Indies needed a further 143 as they had reached 140 for 2 with Gayle on 64 and Shivnarine Chanderpaul on 1.

Sarwan had just departed for 63, caught behind when Brett Lee returned for a second spell after West Indies' captain and vice-captain gave Australia's stand-in leader Michael Clarke some major headaches. Gayle's half-century came from 45 deliveries and featured some powerful strikes, including a ferocious six over long on from a Lee half-volley.

Gayle also took a particular liking to James Hopes, whom he clubbed flat and straight for six before clipping him for four through the leg side in an over that cost 14. Sarwan's half-century was slightly more restrained - it came from 69 balls - but he too enjoyed the short boundaries of Warner Park.

Sarwan pounded the part-time offspinner David Hussey straight over his head for six that left the debutant with a double-figure economy rate at the 25-over mark. Sarwan had started superbly with his first two deliveries driven straight and through cover four boundaries off Lee.

Sarwan was out there in the first over after West Indies lost Xavier Marshall to get their chase off to the worst possible start. Marshall could not get bat on a fast, straight ball from Lee and was lbw to leave the score at 1 for 1 before the recovery from Gayle and Sarwan.

50 overs Australia 282 for 8 (Symonds 87, D Hussey 50) v West Indies

A well paced 87 from Andrew Symonds guided Australia to a reasonable total of 282 for 8 after their top-order batsmen struggled to build any momentum having been sent in. Warner Park is a small ground with a lightning fast outfield so West Indies know their chase is gettable, but they will be frustrated to have let Australia off the hook after the visitors were 129 for 4.

It was Symonds and the debutant David Hussey who steadied Australia with an excellent 127-run partnership that ensured they would bat out their full allotment and allowed them to chase quick runs in the dying overs. Symonds fell short of his century when he slammed Fidel Edwards straight to mid off but his 78-ball innings had already provided plenty of entertainment.

He started sensibly and was happy to knock about singles and twos but when he began to lift his tempo there was trouble for the West Indies bowlers. Symonds lofted the debutant spinner Nikita Miller over long on for six - Symonds' 100th in ODIs - and sent an even bigger six straight down the ground off Daren Powell.

Symonds also showed off his version of the reverse sweep, an unconventional take on an already unusual stroke. When Miller pitched the ball on his pads, Symonds shaped as if to play a normal sweep, then ran the ball off the back of his bat down to the third-man boundary. It was nowhere near as gobsmacking as Kevin Pietersen's switch-hitting but it was innovative all the same.

After Symonds departed a few more wickets slowed Australia's run-rate, with James Hopes skying a catch to midwicket for a golden duck. Luke Ronchi, batting for the first time in an ODI, might have thought he had stumbled into a game of backyard cricket with a rule that batsmen cannot be out first delivery. His first ball was a free-hit after Edwards over-stepped the previous ball and Ronchi made use of the chance, driving a catch to Chris Gayle at cover and scampering through for a single.

Hussey also enjoyed his first one-day international innings and posted 50 from 51 deliveries before skying a catch to deep midwicket. Hussey initially nudged quick ones and twos before displaying his talents with a pair of sixes, one slogged over midwicket off Dwayne Bravo and another driven viciously over long off from Powell.

Edwards and his colleagues fought back well in the late overs, restricting Australia to 26 runs from the final four overs, a good result given that the previous over from Powell went for 19. Still, West Indies knew they could have kept the total even lower after Australia's top four all failed to capitalise on their starts. Clarke, captaining in an ODI for the first time in the absence of Ricky Ponting, looked like he would lead from the front until he was trapped lbw for 36 to give Miller his first international wicket.

Clarke and Michael Hussey (37) had put together a handy 60-run stand that ended when Hussey pulled Darren Sammy to deep midwicket. It gave West Indies their first moment of joy since some excellent new-ball bowling from Powell, who removed both the openers. Shane Watson started positively and had 20 from 22 deliveries when he got a corker from Powell, who nipped the ball back to collect the inside edge on the way through to Denesh Ramdin.

Shaun Marsh (16) fell to an even better ball as Powell pitched it on the stumps and jagged it away from the left-hander, who tried to clip through leg and got a thin edge behind. By the close, Powell's figures had ballooned to 2 for 66 and it was up to West Indies' batsmen to take advantage of the small boundaries.

West Indies v Australia, 2nd ODI, Grenada

Australia hammer undisciplined Windies

June 27, 2008

Australia 213 for 5 (Hussey 62, Clarke 56) beat West Indies 140 for 8 (Chanderpaul 45*, Clarke 3-26) by 63 runs (by D/L method)
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How they were out

	Batting was not easy for Michael Clarke but he worked hard for his 56 © AFP

Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke showed West Indies how to apply themselves on a difficult pitch but their hosts ignored the lesson and threw away wickets when the going got tough, handing Australia a comprehensive 63-run Duckworth/Lewis win. When the rain came after 26 overs West Indies' hopes were already dashed and at the resumption they needed a ridiculous 146 more off 14 overs, ensuring Australia took a 2-0 series lead.

The victory came because of two men. On a surface that was sluggish and offered tricky seam movement, Hussey and Clarke compiled a restrained and at times soporific century partnership that allowed Australia to reach 213 for 5 after they had wobbled to 35 for 3. West Indies fell to an almost identical 41 for 3 in the chase but whereas Hussey and Clarke went into Test mode and focused on batting out the overs, West Indies' middle order showed as much patience as a hand grenade.

Australia's attack adopted a stump-to-stump style that suited the conditions and while Shivnarine Chanderpaul displayed his customary resolve, his partners exhibited no such commonsense. Dwayne Bravo had 3 from 21 deliveries when he was frustrated into lofting Shane Watson's slower ball to Hussey at deep midwicket and West Indies were 49 for 4.

Patrick Browne was equally unable to find the gaps and with 1 from 18 balls he edged Clarke to first slip, where Cameron White took a superb diving chance on the second grab. If the situation was not dire enough, Kieron Pollard came in and from his second ball played the worst shot of the lot. In a situation that required a slow and steady consolidation, Pollard went over the top and lobbed Clarke straight down the throat of Watson at long off, much to the frustration of his older, wiser partner.

At the time Chanderpaul had worked hard for 13 from 42 deliveries and when rain halted play one over later, it at least delayed the embarrassment for West Indies. Their revised target, 204 runs from 41 overs, was unattainable and Chanderpaul finished unbeaten on 45 while Clarke ended up with 3 for 26. If little went right for West Indies in the first ODI in St Vincent, there were even fewer positives in Grenada.

Their chase got away to the worst possible start when Brett Lee found Xavier Marshall's edge from the first delivery of the innings. The ball flew low and to the right of Luke Ronchi, who made a good take to give him the perfect introduction behind the stumps in his first ODI. Lee was once again in fine form, seaming the ball effectively and often beating the bat of both Andre Fletcher and Chris Gayle.

A watchful Gayle did not get off the mark until his 13th ball and although a calm and composed innings was required, the captain set a poor example for his troops by miscuing an attempted pull off Mitchell Johnson to Ricky Ponting at mid off. It was a disappointing shot selection, though not as bad as that of Fletcher, who tried to pull a James Hopes delivery that was far too full, and lost his off stump.

The difference between their approach and that of Australia could not have been more stark. Clarke and Hussey knew that after a shaky start - Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell jagged the ball around early and picked up three handy wickets - runs were not their immediate concern. Accordingly, they added only eight runs in the first ten overs of their partnership. Until Clarke drove Darren Sammy back down the ground in the 26th over, there had been no boundaries for 104 deliveries. But Clarke and Hussey are both smart runners between the wickets and they were largely responsible for the fact that 94 of Australia's 213 runs came in singles.

Plenty of comfortable ones and twos were on offer when the spinners operated and if runs weren't exactly leaking there was at least a nagging drip that Gayle needed to deal with. He was not helped by his fielders, who seemed to switch off after the early enthusiasm. Browne was sloppy behind the stumps and Bravo made a meal of what should have been a catch at first slip when Clarke was on 30 and facing Sulieman Benn. Bravo inexplicably moved right, trying to anticipate the cut shot rather than watching the ball, and he failed to get a hand on one that would have gone straight to him had he stayed still.

It was a costly mistake as Clarke went on to sweep and cut a few boundaries in his half-century, which came off 87 deliveries. He eventually fell for 56, struck in line by a straighter Benn ball that he was trying to work through midwicket as Australia gradually tried to lift their rate. Hussey picked up the pace with a six swept over midwicket off Benn and, appropriately given the hard grind for most of his innings, brought up his half-century with a thick edge that flew away for four to third man.

When Hussey holed out to long on for 62 from 105 deliveries his job was done. He had set a solid platform so the lower order could attack and White finished unbeaten on 40 from 39 balls while Hopes added a run-a-ball 17. The allrounders, who might have been under undue pressure had they come in earlier, had an easy task after the Clarke and Hussey partnership, which was worth 100 off 29 overs.

It also gave Ponting, in his 300th ODI, some justification after choosing to bat on a pitch with some moisture. His run of big milestone innings ended when he chipped a catch to short midwicket for 13, out to Taylor for the fifth time in his past six international innings. Australia had already lost Shaun Marsh and Watson, who waited 15 minutes for the first over due to yet another tedious sightscreen fault that did little for West Indies' image after a similar ridiculously long wait in Barbados. In the end it was a batting malfunction that really damaged West Indies' reputation.