Samuels was named Man of the Match for his fabulous knock of 92

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Marlon Samuels struck a brilliant 92 as the West Indies defeated Australia by four wickets in St Kitts.

Being put in to bat first, Australia lost opener Aaron Finch early on as he was dismissed by West Indies skipper Jason Holder for a duck.

Usman Khawaja and Australia captain Steven Smith made up for the loss of Finch with a 170-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Smith was caught and bowled by Carlos Brathwaite for 74, which came off 95 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.

Khawaja went on to score a career-best 98, which came off 123 deliveries and included four boundaries and three sixes, before he was run out by Jerome Taylor.

Khawaja (left) and Smith (right) both made valiant half-centuries

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

George Bailey took over after Khawaja was back in the pavilion as he made 55 off 56 balls, which included one boundary and two sixes, to guide Australia to 265/7 off their 50 overs.

Bailey scored his 19th ODI fifty

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Holder, Brathwaite and Kieron Pollard picked up two wickets apiece.

Chasing 266 to win, the West Indies got off to a great start as their opening pair of Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher put together a 74-run partnership before James Faulkner provided the breakthrough for Australia by removing Fletcher for 27.

Charles went on to make 48 before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Adam Zampa.

Despite losing their openers in quick succession, Darren Bravo and Samuels kept the West Indies’ innings on track as they amassed an 82-run stand before Bravo was caught behind off the bowling of Zampa for 39.

Samuels and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin kept the runs flowing with a 73-run partnership, during which Samuels brought up his half-century. Samuels looked on track to score his 10th ODI century, but disastrous struck when he was eight runs away from accomplishing the feat as he was run out by Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.

Samuels’ superb innings of 92 came off 87 balls and included eight boundaries and four sixes.

Even though Ramdin and Holder went on to be dismissed in the same over, the West Indies still managed to cross the finish line with 26 balls to spare.

Zampa and Nathan Coulter-Nile took two wickets apiece, while Faulkner claimed one.

Smith was disappointed to be on the losing end, and said: “We were 15-20 short. Should have got a few more than we did. Credit to West Indies, they bowled well. We didn’t execute as well as we liked. Got to find ways to score a few more. Have to try to keep in the game and take wickets to make it go for as long as possible. We didn’t field like an Australian side today, not up to scratch.”

Holder was pleased with his side’s performance, and said: “Had a bit of bounce early in the pitch. Important to control the Powerplay. We controlled reasonably well and knew we were one wicket away from getting into their middle order. Batsmen put up their hands today. That’s what we ask of batsmen. Means a lot to us, we have lacked consistency over the past few years.”

Samuels was named Man of the Match, and said: “Most important thing was we won the game. Better than making a 100 and the team lose. There are some teams that you don’t score against. We are gelling together as a team, we are building a team. We’ll be hard to beat in the future.”