Michael Clarke enhanced his reputation with a handy all-round performance that gave Australia a 2-0 lead in their five-match one-day international series with the West Indies, when they won the rain-affected second match by 63 runs on Friday.
Australia’s vice-captain followed up a vital innings of 56 from 98 balls with three wickets for 26 runs from six overs, as the visitors successfully defended a revised victory target under the Duckworth-Lewis method of 204 from 41 overs.
Clarke earned the man-of-the-match award, as the Australians restricted the West Indies to 140 for eight from their allocation of 41 overs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 45 not out from 77 balls was the top score for the West Indies, but no other West Indies batsman suggested substance or stability.
PHOTO: AP
Australia won the opening match by 84 runs last Tuesday at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex just outside the St. Vincent and the Grenadines capital of Kingstown. The third match in the series will also be contested at the Queen’s Park Stadium in St George’s.
Clarke, bowling his uncomplicated left-arm spin, snuffed the life out of any ideas the West Indies had of a fightback, after they subsided to 49 for four in the 21st over. He removed Patrick Browne for 1, Kieron Pollard for a duck and Darren Sammy for 9 either side of a near hour-long stoppage for rain to leave West Indies 74 for seven in the 31st over.
Australia had set the West Indies back from the very first ball of the innings, when Brett Lee had Xavier Marshall caught behind for a duck. Lee and new-ball partner Nathan Bracken kept up the pressure with mean, purposeful bowling in their opening spells that starved the West Indies of a rapid response from the top order.
PHOTO: AFP
But Australia had to wait until the eighth over for the second breakthrough, when West Indies captain Chris Gayle was caught at mid-off off Mitchell Johnson for 10, miscuing a cross-batted stroke at a short, rising ball. Johnson and the other Australia support bowlers made sure that the work of Lee and Bracken was not wasted as they too bowled steadily, if not menacingly, to keep runs at a premium and as the pressure mounted, the West Indies’ batsmen wilted.
James Hopes bowled hometown boy Andre Fletcher for 19 with the second ball after the first drinks break and Shane Watson added the scalp of Dwayne Bravo caught at deep mid wicket for 3 to leave the West Indies in tatters.
Earlier, the two Michaels — Hussey and Clarke — helped Australia recover from a shaky start. Hussey hit the top score of 62 from 105 balls and with Clarke shared a crucial fourth wicket stand, as Australia reached 213 for five from their allocation of 50 overs after choosing to bat on a hard, true pitch. The two Michaels added exactly 100, after Australia courted early strife at 35 for three in the ninth over. Clarke reached his landmark in the 34th over, when he drove his 87th delivery from Sulieman Benn to long-on for a single.
But he fell in the 38th over, when Benn had him adjudged leg before wicket after the batsman got too far inside the line to turn a delivery into the leg-side. Hussey reached his 50 in the 41st over, when he edged a loose drive at a wide ball from Jerome Taylor to third man for the last of his two fours and seemed prepared to carry the Aussies through until the end. But he tried to hit a delivery from Bravo over long-on and was caught inside the boundary in the 45th over, leaving Hopes and Cameron White to carry Australia the rest of the way.
Not for the first time during Australia’s trip to the Caribbean, the start of play was delayed for close to 15 minutes because of issues with the sight screen at the northern end of the ground. It is hard to determine if the mollycoddle affected the two Australia openers, but they were dismissed within five overs of each other. Shane Watson was adjudged lbw playing across to Taylor for a duck with the last ball of the first over and Shaun Marsh was caught behind edging a stiff grope at a rising ball from Daren Powell in the sixth over, to leave Australia 19 for two. After another issue with the sight screen at the southern end of the ground, Australia were wobbled further.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting, appearing in his 300th one-day international, fell to Jerome Taylor for the eighth time in international cricket (both Test and one-day) and he was caught at short, straight mid-wicket for 13 in the ninth over. But Hussey and Clarke, drawing on their experience, navigated Australia through choppy waters and they later reached “the promised land.”
Taylor took two for 47 from his allotment of 10 overs for the West Indies. The Aussies made one change with wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi coming into their side for his one-day debut, replacing Brad Haddin who has been ruled out for the rest of the series with an injury to his right ring finger. The West Indies made three changes, with key batsman Chanderpaul, wicketkeeper-batsman Browne and fast bowler Powell replacing Ramnaresh Sarwan, Denesh Ramdin and Fidel Edwards.
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