Calcutta: The warm-up tie between Australia and the West Indies, prior to their World T20 campaign, turned out to be an interesting contest at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Watched by around 10,000 spectators, the two teams played intense cricket before the West Indies romped to a seven-wicket win, with a ball to spare.
Batting first, the Australians put up a challenging score of 161 with opener Shane Watson hitting 60 in 49 balls with the help of four fours and four sixes. The West Indies lost half of their side for only 49 runs on board, but a late onslaught saw them through in the last over.
The hero of the West Indies victory was their captain Darren Sammy, whose unbeaten 28-ball 50 opened up the match in the last few overs. He was well assisted by Carlos Brathwaite (33 in 14 balls) and Andre Russell (29 in 15 balls). Their efforts negated the performance of Josh Hazlewood, who got a stunning hat-trick to reduce the West Indies to 22 for 3 in the early overs.
The Hazlewood magic came in the fourth over when he trapped opener Jason Holder leg before for six on the third ball and then bowled Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo in the next two deliveries.
"A win against Australia is always great," said Sammy after the match. "In the last four overs, we had a target of 10 to 15 runs and managed to achieve it. It was great to see there were around 10,000 spectators in the stadium. We are now looking forward to play at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, in front of a full house," added the captain.
Asked about his hat-trick, Hazlewood said: "I was lucky enough to get a couple of straight deliveries and they missed. There are still a few things I need to work on. I am happy with my performance today but there is work to do."
About the Eden wicket, the Australian said: "The wicket was pretty good... Got a little bit lower as the game went on. Once the ball got soft, we should have tried more cutters. We tried too many yorkers and if you miss, they will hit."
Hazlewood said Watson getting runs was a great thing for the team. "Watson is a special player to have in a young team. His knowledge of the conditions in India is pretty valuable."
In contrast, Australia had a great start as Watson and Aaron Finch (33 in 24 balls) rocketed the score to 106 for one, with Watson hitting back-to-back sixes off Holder Sulieman Benn. But once Watson was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo (four for 21), the Australians lost their way. Skipper Steve Smith (36) and John Hastings (10) were the only other batsmen to reach the double figure.
Brathwaite's sparkling knock would definitely make the IPL fans happy. Starting from a base price of Rs 30 lakh, the West Indian was roped in by the Delhi DareDevils for Rs 4.2 crore.
Brief scores: Australia 161/9 in 20 overs (Shane Watson 60, Steve Smith 36; Dwayne Bravo 4/21, Sulieman Benn 3/37). West Indies 162/7 in 19.5 overs (Darren Sammy 50 not out, Carlos Brathwaite 33; Josh Hazlewood 3/13, Andrew Tye 2/35). West Indies won by 3 wickets.
