A 103-run stand between Shimron Hetmyer (61 runs in 36) and Dwayne Bravo (47* in 34) and a late cameo from Andre Russell (24* in 8) helped West Indies beat Australia by 56 runs in the second T20I at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia. West Indies have taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series with the win.
Coming to chase 197, Australia never seemed to be in the contest before being bowled out for 140 in 19.2 overs. This is the first time since 2010 that Australia have been bowled out in consecutive limited-overs games.
Earlier, Aaron Finch won the toss and asked West Indies to bat. Andre Fletcher replaced Evin Lewis on the top of the order but failed to make an impact. Ashton Agar (1-28) bowled Fletcher (7) in the third over when the latter was batting on seven.
Lendl Simmons’ cameo came to an end inside the Powerplay, by Josh Hazlewood (1-39). Chris Gayle (13) struggled throughout his 16-ball stay before Mitchell Marsh (1-18) bowled him. West Indies were 59/3 at this point.
The breakthrough partnership of the contest came just after that, between Hetmyer and Bravo. The latter came to bat at No. 5 for the first time in five years. The promotion paid off. They batted 61 balls together before Hazlewood ran Hetmyer out.
Russell then smacked two fours and two sixes in his quickfire innings. Riding on that, West Indies finished at 196/4. They scored 34 runs in the final two overs.
Neither Adam Zampa (0-36) nor Mitchell Starc (0-49) bagged a wicket. Dan Christian, too, conceded too many runs for no success.
The chase was never on the cards for Australia, especially after losing both Matthew Wade and Finch in the first four overs. Marsh (54), though, notched up his second consecutive fifty before Hayden Walsh (3-29) got him. Barring Marsh, no Australian batter scored in excess of 20.
Gayle (1-1) came to bowl the final over. He bowled Hazlewood (4) to seal the deal for West Indies.
The two sides will again meet on 12 July, for the third T20I at the same venue.
Brief scores
West Indies 196/4 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 61; Mitchell Marsh 1-18) beat Australia 140 in 19.2 overs (Mitchell Marsh 54; Hayden Walsh 3-29) by 56 runs. Player of the Match: Shimron Hetmyer.