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Australia launch enormous recovery to win World Cup classic against West Indies

6th June, 2019
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Nathan Coulter-Nile was the star of the show with the bat for Australia as they beat the West Indies. (Photo by Simon Cooper/PA Images via Getty Images)
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6th June, 2019
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Australia have recorded a stunning victory in their second World Cup clash against the West Indies, recovering from an incredibly shaky start in a game which went back and forth and could instantly be labelled a classic encounter.

There was a surprise hero for Australia in the form of Nathan Coulter-Nile, who rescued his side after they found themsleves in severe early trouble, having been sent into bat by West Indies skipper Jason Holder.

A normally docile Trent Bridge pitch was anything but, with pace and bounce both factors for the West Indies attack, who came into the game full of confidence, having rolled Pakistan for 104 in their opening match of the campaign.

While sundries helped Australia along early, Aaron Finch and David Warner both found themselves back in the dressing sheds inside the first four overs as Oshane Thomas and Sheldon Cottrell wreaked havoc on the Australian top order.

Joining them shortly afterwards was Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell, who both played horrendous shots given the situation of the game. Australia were reduced to just 4 for 38 at the dismissal of Maxwell, and when a short-lived resistance from Marcus Stoinis was ended, the Aussies were 5 for 79 and in all shorts of bother.

Former skipper Steve Smith, who was all too happy to play the anchor role, finally found some support in keeper Alex Carey. Despite the West Indies cycling through their bowlers, they couldn’t find a way to break the stand as Carey began to tee off, eventually being dismissed by Andre Russell for 45.

Nathan Coulter-Nile then strode to the crease and whacked a staggering 92 in a partnership with Smith which saw 102 added in just 14 overs.

The efforts of the number eight brought Australia to a defendable total, but one the West Indies would have been frustrated, with some wayward bowling (including 23 wides) letting them down badly.

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Nathan Coulter-Nile batting

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Photo by Simon Cooper/PA Images via Getty Images)

It was an action-packed beginning to the reply, with Chris Gayle struggling to face the pace of Mitchell Starc, but taking a particular liking to the length offered by Pat Cummins with the new ball.

Gayle, as always seems to be the case, was a walking highlights reel. He was given out twice during the third over of the innings, surviving a pair of DRS reviews, before finally being trapped by Starc, but he smacked Cummins for a couple of boundaries in between.

Unfortunately, umpiring will be a key talking point out of the game, with the West Indies having four out decisions overturned via reviews while they were batting, while it was later found the ball which got Gayle out was supposed to be a free hit after Starc overstepped by a considerable distance the ball prior.

With Evin Lewis also back in the pavilion, it was up to Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran to rebuild the innings, and they did a reasonable job of it, putting Australia on the back foot.

Adam Zampa finally broke through to get rid of Pooran though, leaving the score on 3 for 99 and the Windies in a precarious position.

Hope took up the Steve Smith-type role, ending on 68 from 105 balls, but the big hitters around him played some awful shots and simply failed to fire against the pace provided by the Aussie quicks.

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Despite that, Jason Holder put up plenty of resistance with a hard-fought half-century and had the West Indies right back in it when Andre Russell came to the crease at 5 for 190 with 15 overs to go.

Russell, however, got carried away and played a terrible shot to end his innings, although it must be noted that with a run out, aggressive captaincy from Finch and a stunning catch from Glenn Maxwell to get rid of Russell, Australia were strong in the field.

Following Russell’s dismissal, Brathwaite held things together with the West Indies looking the side more likely at times with the equation in check, but Finch brought Mitchell Starc back earlier than most captains would have, and it brought about another pair of wickets which ended the game as a contest.

Match summary

Australia 10/288 (49) (Nathan Coulter-Nile 92, Steve Smith 73, Alex Carey 45, Carlos Brathwaite 3/67) defeat West Indies 9/273 (50) (Shai Hope 68, Jason Holder 51, Mitchell Starc 5/46)

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