Mitchell Starc took five for 48 and Josh Hazlewood three for 11 as Australia bowled out the West Indies for 123 to win the first One-Day International by 133 runs here on Tuesday.
West Indies was struggling at 27 for six in the eighth over and was finally all out in the 27th over chasing a revised total of 257 in 49 overs in a rain-affected match.
Captain Kieron Pollard helped the home team fend off the threat of a record low score, making 56 and putting on 68 for the seventh wicket with Alzarri Joseph (17).
Earlier, Australia’s stand-in captain Alex Carey also made a half century in a 104-run fifth-wicket partnership with Ashton Turner to lead the team to 252 for nine in 49 overs. Carey took over the captaincy for the first time in a ODI from Aaron Finch who was ruled out of the match with a knee injury.
Walsh Jr. excels
Leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Junior took five for 39, a maiden five-wicket bag in ODIs, and narrowly missed a hat-trick to limit the Australian total. But the complete failure of the West Indies’ top order in the face of accurate bowling from Starc and Hazlewood gave Australia a convincing win.
The scores: Australia 252/9 in 49 overs (Alex Carey 67, Ashton Turner 49, Walsh Jr. 5/39) bt West Indies 123 in 26.2 overs (Kieron Pollard 56, Mitchell Starc 5/48). Man-of-the-match: Starc. Australia won by 133 runs under D/L method and leads three-match series 1-0.
