WI vs The Aussies T20 #2 match report: Caribbean Rhythms 2, Waltzing Mathilda 0.
Ah, what a funny old game this thing called cricket is. If you’d have told me 3 days ago that WI would win BOTH games played thus far, against an opponent over whom we have enjoyed precious little recent success, I would have said that has as much chance of happening as, well, football coming home 😜😜. Yet, here we stand, deeply breathing in the rarefied air of consecutive victories over our tormentors from Down Under. I can’t help but wonder what the late Messrs Benaud and Cozier are saying to each other in the big commentary booth up in the sky.
After the batting meltdown exhibited by the Aussies in game 1, I was prepared for a more focused, determined effort in game 2. The fact that Australia kept the same 11 and chose to field first once more surely meant that the coaches had used the required “French” language behind the scenes and were giving their players a shot at redemption. A score of 59-3 by the end of the 8th over seemed to justify those decisions. Even though Hazle got some wood this time around, the continuing struggles of Chris Gayle are simply painful to watch. Whilst I have never been one of his greatest admirers, I feel the selectors must ask themselves if the possibility of one of his trademark explosive knocks is worth the ugly spectacle of the T20 game’s most successful batter looking increasingly out of his depth every time he comes to the crease. His dismissal, though, led to the bona fide stroke of genius that saw Dwayne Bravo come in at #4 for the first time in, well, forever. The WI middle order has been bereft of experience and patience to guide the power-hitters and in the continued absence of Pollard, up stepped Bravo. What followed was a beautifully constructed, excellently paced century partnership with Hetmyer as the pair took the total to 162 before Hetty was run out at the end of over #18. In the process, the DJ rolled out his back-in-times playlist, treating the spectators to an array of classic Bravo-Esque shots that brought him an undefeated 47 off 34 deliveries by innings’ end. A typically brutal Dre Russ cameo of 24 off 8 saw WI to a very healthy 196-4 but the most satisfying thing about the batting was the reduction in dot balls faced by a full 20 deliveries. This concerted effort to keep the scorecard ticking no doubt contributed to the 51 runs added on to the previous game’s total. Now it was left to see if the Kangaroos would hop or flop.
Remarkably, at the end of 8 overs, the Aussies were exactly where the WI had been in terms of runs scored and wickets lost. Mitchell Marsh again looked well set and very comfortable and the hopes of squaring the series rested on him forming a similar partnership with Henriques to rival the DJ-Hetty effort. A couple dropped catches helped them along their way to compiling 43, but the return of Hayden Walsh Jr once more spun the match in the home team’s favour. The Aussies went from 101-3 to 115-7 in the next 18 balls and at that point, the only question left unanswered was if they would last to the end of their full 20 over quota. Hazlewood saw his stumps castled by, of all people, Gayle, bowling his patented “if-spin” in the final over to dismiss the Aussies for 140 and hand the WI a handsome 56 run margin of victory. The lack of any significant partnerships besides the 39 and 43 put on for the 3rd and 4th wickets respectively had again undone the men from Down Under, Mitch Marsh being the only batter to cross 20 in the innings. A total all-around effort from the WI bowling unit saw wickets shared amongst all but Fabien Allen, and whilst the Aussies faced only 38 dot balls, they were limited to just TWO 6’s compared to the 13 hit by the WI. Walsh Jr. grabbed 3 scalps for the second night in a row perhaps cementing for now at least his place in the team as the go-to wrist spin option.
So, where do we go from here? As mortal and flawed as they have looked thus far, I am hesitant to even contemplate for one moment that the Aussies will not mount a fightback in game 3, and truthfully, I will welcome it to see how our lads respond. In sport, the old adage always holds that “to be the best, you have to beat the best.” We’ve seen that we can definitely beat the Aussies at their worst; let’s hope they challenge us with their best before this series is over and done.
