Australia v/s West Indies: Quick Flicks of the day

Title contenders West Indies had a tough start to their T20 World Cup campaign as they lost their opening match to Australia by 17 runs under the Duckworth- Lewis method. Despite a defeat, there is a lot that the boys from the Caribbean can take away from their first game and come out stronger in their perform-or-perish tie against Ireland on 24^th September.

Chris Gayle:

Too much has been said and written about this man when it comes to the shortest format of the game. He manages to come out and completely destroy bowlers with his ruthless hitting – game after game. In this game, Gayle did not go after the bowlers from the first delivery. He looked a bit tentative in the beginning, taking his time to settle in and even survived a scare when Shane Watson dropped his catch in the deep. From the very next over we saw the usual murderous Chris Gayle. He hit Patrick Cummins for 18 runs in an over and there began George Bailey’s headache, something that was always round the corner with Gayle in the middle.

Marlon Samuels’ innings:

While many were still awestruck by Gayle’s innings of 54 off 33 balls, one that included five fours and four huge sixes, not many noticed that Marlon Samuels played an innings at a similar pace, but only didn’t look as imposing as the 33-year-old Jamaican opener. After Gayle’s departure, Samuels came in and made sure that the momentum did not tilt in favor of the opposition and scored a splendid half-century off just 33 deliveries which had 3 fours and 4 sixes. His innings was the perfect way to consolidate on the start provided by Gayle.

Shane Watson’s form continues:

Shane Watson seems to be the man to watch out for in this tournament. After an all-round performance against Ireland, the Queenslander started from where he left off. He may have endured a painful period on the field after having dropped Gayle in the deep, but that was short-lived as he got rid of him with a catch off his own bowling. He kept a tight line and length, picked up the wicket of another danger-man, Keiron Pollard and finished with the most economical figures for Australia. He came back and did as much with the bat, as he left the Windies clueless on the field. His 24-ball 41 helped Australia go at more than 10 runs an over and get to the 100-run mark in the 10^th over before rain interrupted play.

Ambiguous performance:

West Indies looked exactly opposite of themselves in the two innings of this game. When they came out to bat, they backed themselves to take it to the Australian bowling attack and did it well to set a target of 192. But what they wouldn’t have anticipated was their ambiguous performance when they came out to defend the total. The bowling was erratic, most of the field placements were not accurate with way too many gaps in the field and the opposition got their runs quite easily. Two different bowlers went for 22 runs off their first over each and the Windies never looked like they could defend their total.

Duckworth-Lewis Method:

It was a day ruled by the Duckworth-Lewis method and this was one of those rare occasions when a result decided by the D/L method did not leave a few people baffled and many heartbroken. The Aussies were very clearly at the top of their game and were scoring way above the asking rate. Even if rain hadn’t interrupted play, this game was tilting more towards the Aussies.