West Indies pay for poor fielding as Cameron Green's unbeaten fifty leads Australia to 3-wicket win, make it 4 in a row

West Indies' losing run continues in the ongoing five-T20I series against Australia. Poor fielding prevented them from tightening the screws as Cameron Green led Australia to a three-wicket win with four balls to spare at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts. Despite young Jediah Blades' economical three-fer, West Indies failed to defend the target of 206.

Wickets fall at regular intervals but West Indies get past 200

Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first. Brandon King hit three fours and a six before getting dismissed by Xavier Bartlett. Skipper Shai Hope was caught at mid-on by Glenn Maxwell for a low score. Roston Chase did not trouble the scorers and fell for a golden duck to Aaron Hardie. West Indies were 58/3 after powerplay overs. Adan Zampa was introduced into the attack and he ended Sherfane Rutherford's cameo. He scored 31 runs from 15 balls, including four fours and a couple of sixes. In the ninth over, Zampa conceded three sixes, two off Shimron Hetmyer's bat. In the next over, Seab Abbott got him caught. At the halfway stage, West Indies were 111/5.

In his last over, Hardie dismissed Rovman Powell with a slower one. He scored 28 runs from 22 balls. Romario Shepherd took on Abbott and hit him for three fours and a six. Despite an expensive spell, Zampa was brought back into the attack. He got the wicket of Shepherd who scored 28 runs from 18 balls. In his last over, Abbott was hit for Matthew Forde for two sixes. Forde was dismissed for a seven-ball 15. Abbott conceded 61 runs from his quota of four overs. In the penultimate over, Jason Holder got bowled by Zampa for a 16-ball 26. In the final over, rain played spoilsport. Only two runs came off Nathan Ellis' over as West Indies posted 205/9.

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Inglis, Maxwell go berserk

Blades did damage with the ball straightaway. He made Marsh his maiden T20I wicket for a two-ball duck. Josh Inglis and Maxwell soon upped the tempo. In the fourth over, Inglis hit Shepherd for four fours in a row. Inglis reached his fifty from 28 balls. Australia were 66/1 after powerplay overs. Shepherd returned to dismiss Inglis who scored 51 runs from 30 balls, including 10 fours and a six. Maxwell and Green did not let the tempo drop as they attacked Akeal Hosein and Forde. Shepherd conceded 21 runs from his 10th over. Australia were 129/2 at the halfway stage. 

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Green finishes it off

Hosein got the prized wicket of Maxwell. He hit six sixes and a four in his 18-ball 47. Blades struck twice in the 12th over to send Mitchell Owen and Cooper Connolly back to pavillion cheaply. But Green was in no mood to slow down. Hardie was not afraid to take risks and West Indies' poor fielding and dropped catches made it worse. In the 17th over, Holder got Hardie caught for a 16-ball 23. In the 18th over, Green reached his fifty from 30 balls. In the penultimate over, Bartlett was run out for a single-digit score but it was a consolation wicket.