WI vs Aus | 4th T20I: 'Mr. Consistent' Mitchell Marsh hands Australia first win of the tour

Brief Scores 

Australia 189/6 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 75, Aaron Finch 52, Hayden Walsh Jr 3/27) 

West Indies 185/6 in 20 overs (Lendl Simmons 72, Mitchell Marsh 3/24, Adam Zampa 2/20) 

Australia won by 4 runs

West Indies lead series 3-1 

The visiting Australian side finally managed to salvage some pride after besting the West Indies by 4 runs in the fourth T20I. The win makes it 3-1 in favour of the hosts who have been utterly dominant in the series. It all boiled down to the final over where premier Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc held his nerves and bowled a sensational over restricting the swashbuckling Andre Russell under immense pressure. 

A target of 190 was always going to be a challenging one for any side, however, with the Windies batters firing all cylinders in the 2nd and the 3rd encounter, they would have backed themselves to chase the total down and it looked all more realistic once openers Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis blazed away in their respective knocks and shared a 62 runs partnership in less than 5 overs. 

It was power-hitting of the highest order as both Simmons and Lewis took the Australian bowlers by the scruff of the neck and displayed some exceptional shots. Adam Zampa was entrusted with the job of bowling in the powerplay and he didn’t disappoint. After conceding a boundary, he castled Lewis with a flatter delivery which zipped through his defence and disturbed the timbers. 

However, Lendl Simmons went on his merry way even in the final powerplay over, taking West Indies to 75 at the end of 6 overs. The foundation was laid and the rest of the batters needed to bat sensibly to see the run chase through. After a blazing knock in the previous encounter, Chris Gayle was dismissed early by the man with the golden arm Mitchell Marsh. 

It was the dodgy knock of Andre Fletcher which turned the tides in favour of Australia. The hard-hitting right-handed batsman struggled to time the ball and was eventually dismissed by Adam Zampa after scoring just 6 of 14 deliveries. The middle overs proved to be decisive for Australia as they tightened the screws on the Windies batters putting them under the strife. 

Despite wickets falling at the other end, Simmons looked in complete command and found the boundaries just when the asking rate crept up. Two back to back wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Simmons again tilted the scales in favour of Australia as Mitchell Marsh continued his dream run in the series. 

With their backs to the wall, the Windies needed some fireworks in the last four overs and it was provided by Andre Russell and Fabian Allen. A good 18th over was followed by a massive penultimate over which almost sealed the deal for the home team. Riley Meredith was carted for 25 runs including three consecutive sixes off the blade of Fabian Allen to bring the equation down to 11 required off the final over. 

With Andre Russell on strike, Windies looked the clear favourites but Mitchell Starc had other ideas. He went around the wicket and kept attacking the pads and Russell never managed to get under any of the first five deliveries. He refused singles on three occasions but with the power and skill set Russell poses, he would have backed himself to finish it off. However, it was a high-class final over which eventually helped Australia win their first game of the series. 

Early on in the day, it was Australian skipper Aaron Finch who won the toss and opted to bat. After conceding a boundary, fast bowler Oshane Thomas who was playing his first match of the series came back strongly, bagging the wicket of Matthew Wade with some pace and extra bounce. Mitchell Marsh continued his good work at No 3 blazing his way to a stupendous knock of 75 off just 44 deliveries. 

Along with his skipper Aaron Finch, Marsh shared a mammoth 114 runs stand to lay the foundation for a brisk finish. Marsh in particular carried on his rich vein of form at his new role. He struck some delightful shots, none better than the lofted extra cover drive of a very good delivery of Hayden Walsh Jr. Finch also got back to some run-scoring form and after struggling for a while, he too got hold of a few and went on to score a half-century. 

Yet again it was leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr who left a lasting impression on the Australian batting line-up bagging back to back wickets of Finch and Alex Carey. Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh Jr applied the brakes on the Aussie middle order, jolting their chances of going beyond the 200 mark. 

Walsh Jr bowled brilliantly bagging three more wickets to eventually restrict Australia to 189 in their allotted 20 overs. Mitchell Marsh was Australia’s top scorer while the leggie was again the most successful bowler from the home team. The score proved to be just enough as Australia eked out a narrow 4 runs victory.