Well, folks, it seems as though the ink on my T20 series recap has barely dried and here we are after the 1st ODI between the Men in Maroon and their visitors from Down Under. It also seems that the WI players have never looked at a Wildlife Documentary before, or else they would have known that a wounded animal is a dangerous one and kangaroos are no exception to that rule. To say that the Aussies took a serious hit to their pride over the course of the T20 series is putting things mildly. Surely the entire WI camp must have not only expected that hallmark Australian fighting spirit to rear its head but prepared suitably to counter it as both teams began battle in the 50 over version of the game, right? Alas, on the evidence of last night’s efforts, this was definitely not the case.
The absence of many regular first-team players from this tour led to the Aussies handing ODI debuts to 3 players, whilst the hosts welcomed back skipper Pollard along with 3 other players (Mohammed, Holder, and Joseph) who were not part of the T20 games. Sadly, ODI Vice-Captain Shai Hope picked up an ankle issue which eliminated him from the line-up and forced team management to tinker with the batting order. Drafting Walsh Jr. into the starting 11 was the right move in my opinion and a fitting reward for the leggie’s bowling performances thus far. In Mohammed and Bravo (Darren) the WI had 2 batters who were more than capable of holding down the fort and stabilizing the middle order for a longer period over 50 overs. Holder, Joseph, and skipper Pollard himself would also mean a total of 7 bowlers in the team so there was enough of a buffer in the event someone was simply having a bad day at the office bowling-wise. On paper, then, the starting 11 looked good enough and sufficiently balanced to produce a positive result.
The Aussies sent in 2 of their debutants to open the innings and they responded with a solid 50-run partnership. The introduction of Hosein’s left-arm spin and Joseph’s extra pace and bounce brought success for the WI as first Phillipe was bowled by Hosein and then the very in-form Marsh was well taken down the legside by Pooran off a visibly much-improved Joseph who was showing how much his stint in county cricket had helped his game. The Aussie innings stood at 114-4 just after the halfway mark, with stand-in skipper Carey at the wicket with Turner. The pair would not be separated until the 45th over by which time they had put on 104 and taken their team to a healthy 218-5. Hayden Walsh Jr, however, took his impressive T20 form straight into this match, repaying the selectors’ faith in him with figures of 5-39 to limit the Aussies to 252-9 at the close of their innings. Overall, the WI bowlers were steady enough and reasonably economical, with 5 out of the 6 used having over 50% of their deliveries as dot balls. Due to the Aussies losing 1 over after repeated rain interruptions, the nonsensical DLS method added 5 runs onto the WI target, and a run chase of 257 in 49 overs was never going to be a pleasant stroll in the park.
Despite both Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood looking far from their best at times during the T20 series, the Australian team management backed their senior bowlers to turn this around. They responded with true Aussie grit, determination, and application. Throughout the 5 T20 matches, in 28 combined overs they had conceded 204 runs. On this night, after the first 8 overs of the WI innings, they conceded 26 runs while taking SIX wickets. The look on Pollard’s face spoke volumes as Joseph joined him at the wicket with the score on 27-6. Of the batsmen dismissed, only Mohammed could realistically say he was undone by an excellent ball. The rest gave their wickets away to either poor shots or through simply misjudging the way the pitch was playing. Be that as it may, the lines and lengths by the Aussie senior statesmen to that point had been pretty near perfect and the only thing left to wonder about now was what sort of approach Pollard would take having been out of the action since the SA series. In Joseph, he found a partner willing to stand and fight, and together, the pair raised 68 runs to bring a faint semblance of decency to the WI total. Pollard was particularly harsh on Zampa, utilizing on some lusty blows to bring up a well-played half-century on his competitive return, but when both Joseph and the skipper himself fell in quick succession, the WI were in danger of a sub-100 run total. Some enterprising shots from Walsh Jr in a last-wicket partnership of 25 with Cottrell took the WI up to 123 before it all ended in just the 27th over.
For too often the recent incarnations of WI teams have approached games with an alarming level of nonchalance, and against an opposition whom they thought they had already beaten into submission, the lack of intensity, fight, drive, and commitment especially from the batting unit was all too palpable. Perhaps game 1’s result will be sufficient as the rude awakening they need to pull up their collective socks for the rest of the series. If not, their Aussie counterparts will be only too willing to embarrass them further.
Loved this report👏