Australia crush listless West Indies by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

---

Ground:	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet
Scorecard:	West Indies v Australia
Player:	BJ Haddin, SPD Smith
Event:	ICC World Twenty20 2010

---

DateLine: 12th May 2010

 

Listless West Indies went down to Australia by six wickets in the last super eight match of the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.

 

West Indies, which needed to beat Australia by 24 runs to qualify for the semifinals, came up with their worst display in this World Cup. The team looked a far cry from the pumped side which defeated India in a crucial match two days ago. The West Indies capitulated without much fight after losing influential captain Chris Gayle in the opening over. Gayle after clattering Nannes for a boundary was bowled by a ball that came in.

 

But Chanderpaul (24) looked in ominous touch when he drilled a four boundaries but Hussey plucked a brilliant catch at mid-on to end his stay and from then on there was only one team which looked like winning the contest. From 39 for one, the home side collapsed to 105 all out a total which the Australians were not going to sweat much to chase. Ramnaresh Sarwan was the highest scorer for West Indies with sedate 26 but he lacked support from the other end as wickets fell at regular intervals.

 

Steve Smith came to party with three for 20 and David Hussey chipped in with two wickets as for the first time in the tournament the Aussie spinners stole the limelight from the pacemen. Smith relished the turn on offer and scalped two big fishes the hard hitting Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy off successive deliveries. Miller and Benn scratched around for five overs and added 20 runs for the final wicket which carried the total past 100 runs.

 

The chase was kick started in a whirlwind fashion by David Warner. The south paw struck four boundaries and a six in a 12 ball 25 to lay the foundation for the chase. However, Australia stuttered while chasing a modest target. Shane Watson played to leave the visitors at 31 for two at the start of the fourth over. But Haddin (42) and Clarke (16) cut down the thrills and settled down to play normal cricket. The duo kept the scoreboard moving with occasional boundaries. Though Clarke was run out for 16, Haddin took Australians to doorstep of victory before he was dismissed. Hussey remained unbeaten on 10 as Australia won with a lot to spare.