Australia go 2-0 up as Inglis and Green sour Russell's farewell
Earlier, Zampa and Maxwell tore through the West Indies top order, taking five wickets between them
Alex Malcolm22-Jul-20252:48
Watch – Russell leaves to a standing ovation after 15-ball 36
A blistering, record third-wicket stand for Australia between Josh Inglis and Cameron Green, combined with five wickets to Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, denied Andre Russell a fairytale farewell to international cricket at Sabina Park and handed the visitors a 2-0 series lead.Player-of-the-Match Inglis smashed 78 not out off just 33 balls, with seven fours and five sixes, while Green made his second consecutive half-century, finishing on 56 off 33, to guide Australia to the target of 173 with eight wickets and 28 balls to spare after they were 42 for 2 in the powerplay.West Indies dropped six catches, including three in the seventh over of the chase. Inglis and Green were dropped twice each. Russell unfortunately dropped Inglis and Mitchell Marsh and conceded 16 in his last international over, having given West Indies hope with a remarkable 36 off 15 to rescue the home side from 99 for 5 in the first half.Earlier, Zampa and Maxwell had scythed through the top order, taking 3 for 29 and 2 for 15 respectively after West Indies had reached 63 for no loss by the eighth over thanks to Brandon King’s 51 from 36.0:57
Watch – Maxwell picks up two wickets in two overs
Australia spinners set the game upAustralia made the unusual move of picking two specialist spinners in the XI with an eye towards the T20 World Cup next year. Matthew Kuhnemann bowled three overs in the powerplay on T20I debut. His first two overs were excellent, conceding just ten runs, but the gamble from Marsh to bowl him a third straight did not pay off as King launched him for two sixes and two fours. It helped West Indies get to 49 in the powerplay with King facing 29 of those balls. He reached his 50 off 33. But Zampa and Maxwell tore through the West Indies top order straight out of the powerplay.King fell off the last ball of the eighth over to Zampa and Hope off the first of the ninth to Maxwell. They took 3 for 23 in four overs with brilliant control of length and line and some excellent help from their fielders. Marsh and Green took superb running catches back with the flight although Marsh dropped Roston Chase at cover off Zampa. The legspinner would later get his man in the 14th, when he also had Sherfane Rutherford miscuing to Green in the deep. It left West Indies 99 for 5 and Zampa with figures of 3 for 15 from three while Maxwell had 2 for 15 from two.1:41
Watch – Inglis scores an unbeaten 33-ball 78
Dre Russ puts on one final showThe crowd rose as one when Russell walked out to bat after earlier receiving a guard of honour from the two teams at a pre-match presentation. West Indies’ talisman and Jamaica’s hero rose to the occasion one more time, thumping three sixes in his first five balls off Ben Dwarshuis to get the home side back on track. He took down Zampa in the following over for a six and a four to dent the legspinner’s figures. Russell was 35 off 12 and threatening to destroy Australia in the death overs but he was undone by the guile of Nathan Ellis with Inglis holding a towering skier. Every Australian player shook Russell’s hand before he soaked in a standing ovation on the way off.Australia were a little shook thereafter. Both Cooper Connolly and Dwarshuis dropped simple catches in the deep while Mitchell Owen missed a simple run out to allow Gudakesh Motie to eke out 18 not out from nine balls and help West Indies post a defendable 172 for 8.2:01
Watch – Brandon King made 51 off 36 for West Indies
Contagious case of the dropsAustralia’s three drops were thoroughly outdone by West Indies, who clanged six in total and paid the price. The effectiveness of spin in Australia’s bowling innings saw the visitors promote Maxwell to open alongside Marsh for just the fourth time in his T20I career. The ploy was to attack Akeal Hosein in the powerplay. Maxwell switch-hit a six and a four off consecutive balls in the first over, justifying his promotion. But his struggles against pace and bounce were evident again as he edged Jason Holder behind for 12 off ten.Marsh was dropped twice in the fifth over off Hosein. First, Russell launched a Superman-style dive to his right at cover-point but could not hold on. Then Hope dropped a difficult bottom edge behind the stumps. Those misses did not prove as costly given Marsh skied Alzarri Joseph to Hope next over.But Motie’s first over, the seventh, proved the most expensive. Inglis sliced the left-arm spinner over cover and Russell again could not hold on running back with the flight. Green smashed a brutally struck return chance back at Motie next ball that he could not cling onto it. Two balls later, Hope dropped another one, this time an outside edge as Green tried to launch down the ground.Inglis and Green make them payThe cost of those drops was immediate. Green swept the next ball, the last of the seventh over, fine for four. Inglis flicked the first of the eighth for six before finding the boundary twice more in the same Joseph over. Inglis went up another gear with some extraordinary shot-making on a tricky surface. He lofted Motie off the back foot over cover and pulled him into the midwicket stand in the same over. He treated Russell with contempt to reach 50 off just 22 balls, launching him onto the roof over long-off before reverse ramping him twice in his final over in international cricket. Green joined the party launching four sixes himself.The final self-inflicted West Indies wound came when Holder dropped a skied ball from Inglis off his own bowling. At the start of the 12th over Australia had needed 73 off 54. By the end of the 14th, which cost Joseph 22 runs, Australia needed just four to win with 30 balls remaining after Green’s 50 had come off 28 deliveries.