West Indies secured their second win of the triangular series and that too against the world champions Australia in the fifth ODI of the series. Australia had to win this match in order to make it to the final, but their hopes were dashed after they were handed a four-wicket defeat by the hosts.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder won the toss and asked Australia to bat first at Warner Park, Basseterre, St. Kitts on Monday.
The skipper dismissed Aaron Finch in the very first over of the game. It was Usman Khawaja and captain Steve Smith, who steadied the ship, adding 170 runs together.
Khawaja went on to score 98 runs. He was unlucky that he missed out on that century, but what mattered the most was his contribution for the team. Smith scored 74 runs as well.
After Smith got out, it was George Bailey, who scored a half-century to help Australia reach the total of 265/7 in 50 overs. Australia could have scored a lot more runs provided their lower middle-order did not disappoint.
Holder was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with figures of 10-0-44-2. Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite picked up two wickets each as well.
When West Indies came out to bat, it never looked like they lost control of the match. Their batsmen were in command during the run chase. The wicket got better to bat on in the second innings and things became easier for West Indian batsmen.
Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles got off to a wonderful start and the duo added 74 runs in the first 10 overs. After that, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels added 82 runs as well.
Samuels was the star of the show as he scored 92 runs from 87 balls. His innings was decorated with eight fours and four sixes. His innings completely overshadowed Khawaja's 98 at the end of the day.
The Australian bowlers struggled with their line and length, unlike the previous two matches. Thus, West Indies took the advantage of the situation and, at the end, they won it quite comprehensively with 26 balls to spare.
Brief score: Australia 265/7 in 50 overs (Usman Khawaja 98, Steven Smith 74, George Bailey 55; Kieron Pollard 2-32; Jason Holder 2-44) lost to West Indies 266/6 in 45.4 overs (Marlon Samuels 92, Johnson Charles 48; Adam Zampa 2-60) by 4 wickets.
