Chris Lynn played like a man possessed as his fiery knock dismantled West Indies Champions and made it a facile win for Australia Champions. After the bowlers did a decent job in keeping West Indies to 142/8, Chris Lynn came out all guns blazing smashing 6 fours and 8 sixes in his 81 off 27 balls. The others did their job with Ben Dunk finishing things off in a hurry.
Chasing 143 for the win, Australia rode on Chris Lynn’s powerful knock of 81 off 27 balls to gallop to the target in a jiffy. He lost his opening partner Shaun Marsh early for 7. D’Arcy Short played second fiddle to Lynn and was unbeaten on 18* off 12 balls. Once Lynn fell, Ben Dunk came and was in more hurry than Lynn as he scored 30* off 9 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes as the Australians got to the target in just 9.3 overs to get their first win and boost their Net Run Rate as well.
Peter Siddle & Nathan Coulter-Nile’s effective bowling keeps West Indies down to 142
Dwayne Smith and William Perkins came out to open for the West Indies Champions with Brett Lee taking the new ball. Perkins made his intentions clear by hitting a maximum off Lee on the third ball of the match. Smith got his first boundary away hitting Peter Siddle for a boundary. Perkins hit another boundary off Lee before the bowler bounced back to outclass the batter.
Lee bowled a slower delivery on length wide of off-stump, Perkins chased the ball and threw his bat at it. The batter got the leading edge and D’Arcy Short took a simple catch at covers. Perkins fell for 10 off 8 balls with one four and a six to his name with captain and Universe Boss Chris Gayle coming out to bat next. Gayle got his first boundary away off Siddle to keep things moving while Smith hit Siddle for a boundary and a maximum in the same over to extract 15 runs off the over.
Steve O’Keefe was introduced into the attack inside the powerplay and he was punished by Smith for bowling it short and wide as the ball went away for a boundary. Nathan Coulter-Nile was greeted with consecutive boundaries from Universe Boss Chris Gayle as the West Indies ended the powerplay at a solid 46/1 in 6 overs. The middle overs would turn out to be crucial for both teams.
O’Keefe was once again hit for a boundary by Gayle as 50 came up in the 7th over for the West Indies. But Steve had his revenge soon in the same over. Steve bowled a shorter delivery angling outside off, Gayle looked to slash at it hard through the off-side but got a leading edge towards the point region. Nathan Coulter-Nile hopped up timely and grabbed a stunning catch at point to dismiss Gayle for 21 off 15 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. Lendl Simmons came out to bat next.
Nathan Coulter-Nile got into the wickets column as he got rid of the dangerous Dwayne Smith. Nathan bowled a slower delivery on a hard length at off-stump, Smith went for a cross-batted heave over the leg side but he was early into the shot. The ball got an inside edge which ricochets back onto his leg stump as Smith fell for 21 off 20 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name. Chadwick Walton came out to bat next and was dismissed first ball.
Walton who was the hero against England got dismissed for a golden duck. Nathan bowled a good length delivery targeting Walton’s off-stump. The ball stays horribly low and beats Walton on his forward defensive shot. The ball breaks the off-stump as Walton fell for a golden duck as Nathan was on a hat-trick. Kieron Pollard strode out to the middle.
Lendl Simmons got a streaky boundary away off Steve O’Keefe to give the innings some momentum. Pollard survived a minor run out appeal against him as he was back in his crease on time. Pollard also faced the hat-trick ball and safely negotiated it well. After the completion of 10 overs at the halfway stage, West Indies Champions were in a spot of bother at 67/4. D’Arcy Short came into the attack in the 11th over. Pollard broke the shackles by hitting a maximum but D’Arcy had his man next ball to have the last laugh.
D’Arcy bowled a short of a length delivery just outside off. The ball was there to be hit, but Pollard mistimed the pull shot and found Daniel Christian at deep midwicket who made no mistake as Pollard fell for 10 off 8 balls with a six to his name. Dwayne Bravo came out to the crease next. Daniel Christian was introduced into the attack and he bowled a tight first over. Steve O’Keefe also kept things tight as runs came in singles at this stage.
Lendl Simmons then broke the shackles a wee bit hitting a maximum off Daniel Christian. Simmons got off strike and Bravo then hit him for a boundary in the same over, his first in the game. Soon, Bravo hit a magnificent six off D’Arcy Short as the 100 came up for the West Indies Champions in 14.4 overs. Simmons hit another maximum off Short as 16 runs came off the over. West Indies Champions were 110/5 after 15 overs aiming for a strong finish in the death overs.
Peter Siddle came back into the attack and was greeted by a boundary from Dwayne Bravo. But Siddle struck for the Aussies getting rid of Lendl Simmons as the partnership was broken. Siddle bowled a length delivery on the stumps. Simmons stayed back and whacked across the line, but mistimed it high in the air. Siddle moved to his right towards short cover region and settled underneath it to grab the ball. Simmons departed for 29 off 28 balls laced with a boundary and 2 sixes to his name. Ashley Nurse came out to bat next.
Dwayne Bravo crunched Daniel Christian for a boundary through deep backward point. But Peter Siddle was not to be denied as he picked another scalp off Ashley Nurse. Siddle bowled the Yorker length on the leg stump line, Nurse looked to whack it away across the line but fails to get any bat on it and the ball goes on to hit the base of leg stump. West Indies were 7 down now with Nurse departing for 3 off 7 balls. Sheldon Cottrell was the new batter coming to the crease.
Cottrell got off the mark with a brace and then took a single to get to the other end. Siddle got two in the over as he now dismissed the dangerous Dwayne Bravo for 26 off 17 balls laced with 3 fours and a six to his name. Siddle bowled a full toss on the off-stump line. Bravo looked to smash it over covers but mistimed it straight to extra cover where Shaun Marsh made no mistake and took it safely. West Indies were 8 down now with Nikita Miller coming out to bat.
Miller joined Cottrell in the middle as Siddle completed his excellent spell. Miller got a boundary away off Lee just to break the shackles a little bit. Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled a tight final over giving away only 6 runs with no boundaries as West Indies finished with 142/8 in 20 overs. Miller was dropped by Cutting at wide long-on. But that’s the only blemish they had in this innings. Just 4 extras given by Australia Champions.
Peter Siddle was the pick of the bowlers for Australia with figures of 3/28 in 4 overs. He was ably supported by Nathan Coulter-Nile who finished with impressive figures of 2/21 in 4 overs. Steve O’Keefe bowled really well for his 1/22 in 4 overs. Captain Brett Lee bowled 3 overs and finished with 1/20. D’Arcy Short’s 2 overs went for 26 runs but managed to still pick up a wicket. Daniel Christian did not pick up a wicket but his 3 overs went for 22 runs. It meant that Australia needed 143 runs to win and get their first win in the competition.
Chris Lynn and Ben Dunk decimates West Indies in an easy chaseÂ
Chasing 143 for the win, Chris Lynn and Shaun Marsh came out to open for Australia. Lynn made his intentions clear by smashing Sheldon Cottrell for a boundary and a maximum off the first two balls of the innings and followed that up with another boundary off the third ball as 17 was scored in the opening over. Nikita Miller bowled a tidy second over before Ashley Nurse came onto bowl. Shaun Marsh greeted him with a boundary before Lynn hit Nurse for the maximum over deep midwicket.
But Nurse had the last laugh as he provided the breakthrough for the West Indies. Nurse bowled it flatter and angling into middle stump, Marsh rocked back and looked to clip it away and got beaten for pace to miss it. The ball went onto crash the middle stump as the first Australian wicket fell at 34 after 3 overs. D’Arcy Short came out to bat at 3. Lynn carried on his merry ways as he hit Miller for a cracking boundary through cover-point. Short was happy to play second fiddle to Lynn.
Chris Lynn was in no mood to settle down as he took Ashley Nurse to the cleaners hitting him for a boundary followed by the maximum off consecutive deliveries. He hit another boundary off the 5th ball of the over as he was showing no mercy to West Indies bowlers. 18 runs came off that over. D’Arcy joined the party by hitting a boundary off Miller before Chris Lynn completed his half-century off just 20 balls with a maximum over covers. At the end of the powerplay, Australia were cruising at 73/1 chasing 143 for the win.
The introduction of Shannon Gabriel did not help the West Indies as Chris Lynn was in a rampaging mood. He smashed a hat-trick of sixes against Gabriel to all parts of the ground and followed that up with another boundary to end the over as 25 runs came off it. D’Arcy Short smashed the maximum off Nikita Miller to bring up the 100 for Australia in just 7.1 overs. Chris Lynn smashed Miller for another maximum straight down the ground.
But Miller had the last laugh and some relief as he dismissed Lynn for 81 off 27 balls laced with 6 fours and 8 sixes to his name. Miller bowled a fuller length angling into the batter, Lynn backed away and looked to go over deep midwicket and went very hard at it to lose his shape. Lynn holed out to Sheldon Cottrell at deep square leg who made no mistake. Ben Dunk came in next at 4 and was about to provide more entertainment to one and all.
Dunk made his intentions clear as he got off the mark with a boundary before smashing a maximum off the very next ball as 23 runs came off that over despite Miller picking up a wicket. Dunk was in even more hurry than Lynn it seemed as he then took on Ashley Nurse by hitting him for a maximum in the second ball of the over and then thumping the bowler for a boundary and a maximum in the same over as 17 runs came off the 9th over.
Dave Mohammed was introduced into the attack and in the 3rd ball of the 10th over, the winning moment came for Australia Champions and off the bat of Ben Dunk. Mohammed bowled a short ball outside off-stump which Dunk stayed back and slapped it through the covers for a boundary to hit the winning runs and complete the dominance for Australia. Dunk remained unbeaten on 30 off 9 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name while Short remained unbeaten on 18 off 12 balls with 1 four and 1 six to his name. 7 extras given by the West Indies as the target was achieved in 9.3 overs.
A sorry looking West Indies bowling figures to say the least. Nikita Miller picked up a wicket in his 1/48 in 4 overs. Ashley Nurse picked up the other wicket as his 3 overs went for 48 runs. Sheldon Cottrell’s only over went for 17 runs while Shanon Gabriel’s only over went for 25 runs. Impact Player Dave Mohammed bowled 3 balls for 5 runs when the victory was achieved. An easy win for Australia and for his breath-taking innings, Chris Lynn was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So with this win, Australia Champions climb up to second in the points table with 3 points from 2 games one point behind South Africa Champions while West Indies Champions occupy the fourth spot currently with 2 points from 3 games. The next fixture in WCL 2025 features the hosts England Champions up against South Africa Champions from Grace Road, Leicester.
Can the hosts England get their first win in the competition or will South Africa carry on their winning momentum and unbeaten streak that they have achieved more so after their crushing win over defending champions India. Only time will tell as this tournament will slowly head towards the business end with plenty of thrills and spills from the legends.
Also Read: WCL 2025: Chadwick Walton’s Fiery Knock Helps West Indies Beat England