Pollard blitz gives hosts impregnable lead

Victory for the world’s number one team in ODI’s against lowly West Indies was a foregone conclusion for most cricket enthusiasts. However, the hosts have once again proved that nothing can be taken for granted in the game of glorious uncertainties. West Indies rode a blistering Kieron Pollard ton to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series with only one match left. After they had piled up 294 for 7, Australia could muster only 252, thereby losing the fourth match by 42 runs.

The first three one-dayers at ST. Vincent were played on a track that had virtually no pace and offered plenty of turn for the slow bowlers. Away from the slow and low turner, Australia would have hoped for some early assistance at Beausejour Stadium when Shane Watson elected to field first after winning the toss. Soon, they realized there was not lot of help available as the new balls didn’t move enough to trouble the batsmen.

That been said, there was clear difference in the manner Adrian Barath and Johnson Charles dealt with the bowling. While Barath had stroked as many as nine boundaries in the first fifty runs, Charles faced 29 deliveries for six. Barath fell after making 41 pleasing runs. Meanwhile, Charles found his touch to lend some respectability to the abject strike rate. His dismissal for 37 was followed by first ball duck for Dwayne Bravo as Xavier Doherty picked up two in two deliveries. Before that, Marlon Samuels was put out of his misery by Brett Lee.

When Kieron Pollard walked in, West Indies were in bit of strife at 106 for four. The fourth ball that came his way was thumped with all the power in the world past long-on. The dose was repeated on Doherty in his next over before a long-hop from the same bowler was smashed over the ropes. The Pollard Juggernaut was beginning to roll when Australia struck at the other end, removing Darren Bravo. However, that only added fuel to fire as Andre Russell scored quicker than Bravo.

With Pollard in full flow, Russell could have afforded to play second fiddle but he too managed some lusty blows of his own. After 38 overs, West Indies had reached 149 for 5; more often than not, teams would gladly take 230 from thereon. But, the sustained assault launched by Pollard with first, Russell and later, Darren Sammy in supporting roles almost doubled the score in space of 12 overs.

Pollard managed to deposit the ball in the reveling crowd as many as eight times in addition to five hits to the ropes during a blazing century, his second in the format. The 70-ball 102 was result of systematic dismantling of the Aussie attack as the ball disappeared to all parts of the ground. Dazed by the battering, Australia conceded the initiative despite having controlled the proceedings till the point Pollard went berserk. Sammy provided excellent finishing touches with two sixes and a boundary off the last three deliveries of the innings, the 50th over went for 23 runs boosting West Indies to a more than competitive total.

In reply, Australia lost half their side for only 112 and even though, there was some resistance by the lower order, the job was beyond their limited means. Brett Lee scored a valiant 59, laced with shots that would have made Pollard proud, in the end, failure of the visitors’ top-order to give the chase a suitable start made all the difference.

Cashing a big total is never easy and if the batting side loses early wickets, the task becomes all the more difficult. That is what Australia found out after David Warner fell in the second over for single. Shane Watson hit a brisk 24-ball 28 to help his side keep pace with the asking rate but miscued a pull against his opposite number. Peter Forrest, with whom Watson shared a fifty stand, fell to the same man-Darren Sammy. George Bailey and Michael Hussey got starts and took the score into three figures but Andre Russell removed both of them in space of three deliveries to derail the chase.

Once the mainstay of the Australian batting has fallen apart, little hopes of a revival had remained. However, David Hussey anchored the later half of the innings with a sprightly fifty before Lee decided to have some fun with his bat. Lee got stuck into Kemar Roach and blasted the 41st over for 24 runs. With wickets falling around him, Lee tried to hit as many out of the ground as his bat could connect. He was the last wicket to fall as Australia were dismissed with 3.3 overs remaining.