Jason Holder’s late blitz went in vain as Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis’ lethal spells powered Australia to 11 runs win in a high-scoring first T20I against West Indies at the Bellerive Oval on Friday.
West Indies started and finished well, but regular wickets through the middle ensured Australia’s 213 was enough to go 1-0 up in Hobart. Australia overcame Windies in a high-scoring encounter to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series.
David Warner hit a half-century in his 100th T20I before legspinner Adam Zampa sparkled with three wickets as Australia held off a barnstorming chase from a full-strength team.
Needing 214 to win, the West Indies got off to the perfect start. Brandon King and Johnson Charles were smoking it to all parts of the ground till Adam Zampa broke their 89-run opening stand in the 9th over. King got to his fifty but couldn’t carry on much longer either and fell prey to Stoinis in the plenty of middle-order batters got off to starts but couldn’t kick on. Zampa returned for another spell and struck a double blow, cleaning up Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran in the 16th over.
There was some excitement towards the end as Jason Holder managed to get some away but in the end, the Australians held their nerve in the last over and clinched an 11-run win.
Earlier, after skipper Rovman Powell decided to send Australia in to bat first, the visitors’ bowlers needed some time to acclimate to the pitch’s speed, which Warner and opening partner Josh Inglis took full advantage of.
Inglis’ imaginative stroke play was on full show as he reverse-lapped Andre Russell before falling for 39 off 25 balls.
Inglis was the first of six Australian batters to succumb to pace, followed by skipper Mitch Marsh (16), Marcus Stoinis (9) and Glenn Maxwell (10) who all came and gone.
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