Abu Dhabi: Late knocks from Kieron Pollard (44 off 31 balls) and Andre Russell (18 not out off 7 balls) took West Indies to 157/7 against Australia in their last Super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here Saturday. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with 4/34, helping his team bounce back after some fiery blows at the start from West Indies.
Inserted into batting first, Evin Lewis smashed Josh Hazlewood for a hat-trick of boundaries in the second over. It was followed by Chris Gayle pulling Hazlewood for a big six over deep mid-wicket. Gayle went on to welcome Pat Cummins with a pulled six over long-on. But on the next ball, Gayle chopped onto his stumps.
Hazlewood, returning after being hit for 20 runs in his opening over, made double strikes in the fourth over. Nicholas Pooran sliced straight to cover-point on a short ball while Roston Chase was clean bowled in an attempted drive.
Evin Lewis shared a stand of 35 with Shimron Hetmyer for the fourth wicket to stabilize the West Indies innings. But the partnership was broken in the tenth over as Adam Zampa forced Lewis to loft a googly, which was caught by forward-diving long-on. Three overs later, Hetmyer gloved behind to the keeper, giving Hazlewood his third wicket of the day.
Dwayne Bravo, playing his last international match, began with a six off Starc. In the next over, Pollard started his onslaught, smashing Cummins for a four and a six. Though Hazlewood took out Bravo in his final over, Pollard equalized by smashing two boundaries. But he fell in the final over, holing out to long-on off Starc in an attempt to go big. Andre Russell’s successive sixes on last two balls of the innings ensured West Indies crossed the 150-mark.
Brief scores: West Indies 157/7 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 44, Evin Lewis 29, Josh Hazlewood 4/39, Adam Zampa 1/20) against Australia