Australia easily defeated the West Indies by eight wickets on Tuesday, February 6, to complete a 3-0 whitewash of the ODI series due to the West Indies’s horrible batting display. Xavier Bartlett returned to mop up the tail to cap off an incredible start to his international career. Xavier Bartlett picked up 4-21 to become the first Australian player to take eight wickets in his opening two One-Day Internationals (ODIs), surpassing Carl Rackemann’s seven in 1983.
Toss Update and Pitch Report
The track at the Manuka Oval in Canberra is mainly helpful to batters by nature. Pacers can have a good time bowling here as well, with some assistance offered by the track. The pacers will have to rely on their variations and accuracy to trouble the batsmen, while the spinners will have to use their guile and flight to create opportunities. So Australia won the toss and elected to field first.
West Indies top order shattered against the Australian seamers
After Smith won the toss and chose to bowl, Xavier Bartlett returned to the Australia XI. The young quick picked up where he left off in his incredible debut last Friday, taking the wicket of Kjorn Ottley (8) in his second over. Had he chosen to review, Ottley would have survived due to an inside edge.
The visitors attempted to get going via Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty (10), but their innings collapsed when Carty, with the team’s score on 38, took out a flying Marnus Labuschagne at point to give Lance Morris his first international wicket. After Abbott removed West Indies captain Shai Hope (4), Morris struck again, delivering a ball that crashed into debutant batter Teddy Bishop’s stumps.
Alick Athanaze tried to steady the ship, but Xavier Bartlett thrashed the West Indies middle order
With 32 runs off 60 deliveries, Alick Athanaze led the way for the West Indies and attempted to steady the innings while Australia continued to put pressure on them on the other end. In the 13th over, the West Indies were down to 44/4 because of the wickets shared by Bartlett, Morris, and Sean Abbott.
However, Australia suffered a blow when Morris, making his debut, left the field due to a side strain after bowling three deliveries in his fifth over. West Indies were at 71/5 after Athanaze and Roston Chase attempted to steady the sinking ship, but the former’s dismissal terminated a partnership worth 27, the highest for the innings.
After that, the lower order showed no fight as the West Indies lost their final six wickets for the addition of only 15 runs. With the ball, Australia’s Xavier Bartlett was once again impressive, taking 4-21. Adam Zampa and Lance Morris both contributed two wickets each, as the West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 86 in 24.1 overs.
Fraser-McGurk and Inglis scored at a rapid pace to chase down the target
Inglis and Fraser-McGurk scored swiftly in the chase, hitting fours and sixes in their opening partnership of 67 runs. Australia got off to a strong start. Alzarri Joseph, on the other hand, dismissed Fraser-McGurk for 41 off 18, despite the fact that his knock contained three sixes and five fours.
After being removed by Oshane Thomas in the seventh over, Aaron Hardie’s tenure was short. It was just a couple of wickets for the West Indies, but it never mattered as Inglis and Steve Smith then took Australia over the finish line.
Australia were simply a class apart throughout that series. There is a lot of work to be done for the West Indies as they go down without a win. The West Indies have a T20I series starting on February 9, coming up in a couple of days, so that’s something the West Indies will look forward to.