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Australia crashed out of the World T20 2012 when they lost to West Indies by 74 runs in the second semi-final at Colombo. Here are a few highlights of the game.
Miss of the day:
The day began with the Australia taking on the West Indies. In the women’s World T20 2012 semi-final, that is. The Aussies, led by Julie Hunter and Ellyse Perry defended a target of 115 against the West Indian women.
So the men had a golden chance to replicate their performance against the West Indian men later in the evening but missed it by a big margin.
A tactic comes undone:
Shane Watson and Xavier Doherty have both opened the bowling for Australia this tournament. Against Gayle though, Australia changed their tactic around and had Mitchell Starc taking the new ball. In his press conference, George Bailey reasoned they needed to get Chris Gayle out early and Starc was their best bet given his good form going into the game.
Watson, having dismissed Gayle last game, bowled the second over.
Unfortunately for Bailey, Gayle did not get any strike in the first over and faced only one ball from Watson next over. The best of plans sometimes come undone but to have Gayle being ‘shielded’ by his opening partner early in the innings would have come as a surprise.
And another tactic works…
West Indies seemed to have gone in with a mindset to attack from one end. That was not going to be Chris Gayle’s end. In a tactic reminiscent of guerrilla warfare, he smartly kept getting off the strike with an odd six lacing his initial stint at the crease.
Unfortunately for Australia, the other batsmen never stopped attacking – right from Johnson Charles to Kieron Pollard and everyone between – and with Gayle joining in the party in the last five, it was a well-planned carnage.
‘Hollow’ innings of the game:
I will admit, the word ‘hollow’ isn’t my original. It is the term that captain George Bailey used to describe his own effort in a game that was long lost before he came blazing. It was in reply to a query from a scribe to describe how he felt about playing an innings like that.
Still, to get a 29-ball 63 for a batsman whose previous nine stints at the crease in T20Is have yielded only 140 runs was worth a light pat on the back. Unfortunately for him, it came on a day when there were many others that overshadowed it. And for the opposition.
The no-show:
David Hussey. Two overs for 22. Second ball duck. Misfielded the first ball that came to him and a single converted to a four. Safe to say then, it wasn’t a night for previous season’s Big Bash League’s best player. It was probably to do with the fact that he was playing his first game of the tournament.
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