Just when it looked like David Warner would hit a match-winning century in his final match for Australia on home soil, his dream farewell unravelled in the space of a few frenetic overs.
Warner had shown remarkable courage to bat on after being hit in the jaw by an Andre Russell bouncer early in his innings to power his way to 81 before an attempt to hit a fourth six led to his downfall in the T20 clash with the West Indies at Optus Stadium.
Australia’s pursuit of the victory target of 221 faltered from there with Josh Inglis out later in the same over and despite some late Tim David fireworks, they finished well short on 5-183 as the Windies avoided a 3-0 series whitewash.
The upset win was set up by a player with a huge reputation for power hitting in Andre Russell and a virtual unknown in Sherfane Rutherford, who combined for a 159-run whirlwind of a partnership to rescue the tourists after a top-order tumble of wickets.
Warner, who has already retired from two international formats and will do so from a third at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in June, had a few lucky moments in his farewell innings in Australia but many more shots of pure class.
A sweetly struck slog-sweep for six off Jason Holder was the highlight of his 49-ball vintage knock.
The lowlight came in the fourth over of the innings when Russell dug the ball deep into the Optus Stadium wicket and it reared up into Warner’s shoulder and onto his chin, underneath the protective grill on his helmet.
Warner was stunned by the blow and received medical treatment but passed his concussion check to take out his frustrations on the bowling attack.
Mitch Marsh, who contributed just 17 of an opening stand of 68, fell in the seventh over when he skied spinner Okeal Hosein to Holder at mid-on.
By that stage Warner had already reached his half-century in just 25 deliveries and put on another 57 with Aaron Hardie before the young local prospect fell for a run-a-ball 16, bowled by Romario Shepherd.
Warner had produced nine fours and three sixes before Roston Chase induced a top-edge from another slog sweep which went no further than Russell’s huge hands in the deep.
Glenn Maxwell and David were faced with a required run rate of 15 and you wouldn’t say that was beyond them but it rose above 20 as the powerful pair struggled to find top gear.
Maxwell, after blasting a 50-ball ton in Adelaide two nights earlier, failed to launch this time around and was bowled by Shepherd for 12 off 14 with David ending on 41 from just 19 deliveries.
Western Australia is about as far away as you can get from the West Indies on the globe and it looked like the frazzled tourists were mentally on the flight home when the match got under way.
Xavier Bartlett backed up his superb haul of 8-38 from his first two ODIs by snaffling a wicket in his first T20 over for Australia when Johnson Charles nicked an attempted hoick to midwicket on four.
Nicholas Pooran nicked Jason Behrendorff to slip to go for one and when Bartlett bowled Kyle Mayers (11) off an inside edge, an early night looked in order with the score at 3-17.
Roston Chase (37 off 20) and Rovman Powell (21 off 14) steadied the ship before Adam Zampa and Aaron Hardie struck.
Rutherford and Russell adopted attack as their best form of defence, clearing the boundaries with regularity to bring the 100 up in the 11th over.
In just his 12th international appearance for the Windies in T20s, Rutherford initially took a back seat to his veteran batting partner before a six off Zampa over long on got him going.
Rutherford sent Spencer Johnson the distance in back-to-back deliveries and then bashed Hardie for three boundaries in the following over as he raced to his half-century in 33 deliveries.
He then went six, four to Behrendorff before Dre Russ stepped up to take down Zampa.
In a rarity for one of the world’s best white-ball bowlers, Zampa lost his line and length when called upon to bowl the 19th over and Russell heaved him over the rope four times with a boundary off another delivery which Tim David nearly caught.
Andre Russell raises his bat after scoring 50 in Perth. (Photo by Will Russell – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
When the dust settled, Zampa had gone for 28 off the over and Russell had accelerated to 61 off 26.
He was out in the final over to an outfield catch off Johnson but not before another four and six to propel the Windies to 6-220 with Rutherford remaining unbeaten on 67 from 40.
Zampa’s figures of 1-65 were by far his worst in his 77th T20 for Australia, conceding 18 more runs than the 47 he gave up to Engalnd in 2020.
Thing Me
Roar Rookie
No but I listened to some of the worst commentary ever heard on radio with some pathetic sexually deprived Kiwi commentators talking about strippers, testicles, drinking, in between the cricket.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Someone keeps BBL stats?
Ace
Roar Rookie
Yes , you're right. How could I forget Bartlett or even Ellis But I was thinking accuracy when not nominating Starc Hoping I don't get shot down on here by Starc's admirers :laughing:
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Averages 4 against spin at IPL and T20 international level - does that not concern you when wickets are expected to favour spin in the West Indies?
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Warner and Head to open is fine, but Jake Fraser-McGurk needs to show he can perform beyond the BBL to get a World Cup gig. He’s a fine talent but we’re yet to really see how he stacks up against international attacks, aside from a pretty ordinary Windies side. In particular, how is his game against quality spin in spinning conditions? We can expect plenty of that in the West Indies. Why do you want to bat Maxwell at 5 – where he averages 22 at a strike rate of 132 – instead of 4 – where he averages 35 at a strike rate of 159 with 4 hundreds? Especially in the West Indies were you want him batting straight after the Powerplay against spinners. Xavier Bartlett in the first XI? Because he towelled up a dreadful Windies batting lineup in the ODI series and had a decent T20I debut? Think we need to see a little more from him for him to crack the starting XI. What has Aaron Hardie done to deserve selection above Stoinis or Green as a reserve allrounder? His shortcomings as an international T20 batter were pretty clear in the T20I yesterday – he has a lot of things to work on especially in his play against spin to be a viable option at this level. Stoinis has been dreadful at ODI level, but his T20I numbers are very good. Matt Short is a fringe selection for the squad, but he hasn’t demonstrated he belongs there above Matt Wade or Smith yet. Like other batters who have dominated the BBL, his play against spin is questionable and he has been found out in the IPL (where he averaged 3.75 at a strike rate of 71 against spin) and at T20I level (where he averages 4.5 at a strike rate of 62 against spin). Smith and Wade can at least knock the ball around against spin even if they don’t dominate it. Warner Head Marsh (c) Maxwell Stoinis David Wade Cummins/Agar (depending on conditions) Starc Zampa Hazlewood Reserves: Ellis, Johnson, Cummins/Agar, Inglis Is where I see the squad at this stage, could be changed after the New Zealand series, or if selectors want an extra batter or allrounder instead of Ellis or Johnson. Smith or Short could still make it, Sean Abbott also in the mix.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Anyone watching New Zealand implode against South Africa? If New Zealand lose, does that count as one of the worst losses ever?
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
I think this is exactly it. Tim David made his name because he was a big power hitter on tiny grounds in Singapore for a while. he's completely bypassed the years and years of fielding drills.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Can't say I paid too much attention to his fielding prior to him playing for Australia, but since he's come into the Australian set up it has been noticeably poor whenever I've seen him play. I wonder if it's because, unlike other Australians, he is not contracted within the state system. So he hasn't had the benefit of doing fielding drills, pre-seasons etc with a state team unlike his teammates. Franchise teams are only together for short periods so not much time to develop fielding skills and in between he's probably focussing more on training his hitting ability than fielding. Zampa I think is just not naturally that athletic so probably has a lower ceiling on his fielding ability, David looks to me like he could be a lot better if he worked on his fielding more.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Cheer Laurence. If only I'd got in with that name before he'd retired, might have got a bit more mileage :stoked:
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I get that, but I can't help but be keen for unleashing Fraser-McGurk. He could be the biggest white ball talent since Maxwell - just don't think we should hold him back much longer.
Prez
Roar Rookie
on form he has it all over Fraser-McGurk.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Have no issue with this - but who does he come in for? Think he needs to bat top of the order if he's playing.
Prez
Roar Rookie
Matt Short had the most dominant BBL. Should be in the starting XI, gun fielder as well.
Prez
Roar Rookie
was ready to write Tim David off. But has found some form. Tough spot to bat in T20.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I'm by no means a Taylor Swift fan but that's an insult to Taylor Swift :laughing:
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Yeah you can easily push Maxwell up the order to 4 – I think you need to remain flexible in this format. I really think Cummins is lucky to be in the squad – he’s barely played any T20 cricket or performed in T20 cricket recently at all – his last World Cup in T20 was dire and that’s the last time he played T20 for Australia. I do wonder whether captaining the other two formats means he should give T20 away. We’ve seen we are well stocked for bowlers here with guys like Bartlett and Johnson coming on, and Jhye Richardson getting fit again hopefully.
The Bush
Roar Guru
BBL?
The Bush
Roar Guru
Has he always been this bad? It's a bit odd, in one sense you'd think fielding standards would need to lift/be high in T20 cricket - certainly ODI cricket seemed to lift overall fielding standards. But perhaps the shortened nature of T20 cricket means it's simply easy enough to hide a poor fieldsman or the impact of their poor fielding isn't so great as to offset whatever their core skill is. In any event, it's in seriously stark contrast to how good most Australians are in the field when they get to the level of playing for Australia (though always a few examples to the contrary, Zampa is pretty poor).
Ace
Roar Rookie
13th I was scathing of the selection of David for this series but he did strike some form. Still reserved though... fielding ? I like you team but I would give Maxwell a shove up the order to get a few more overs Perhaps Cummins for Starc ??
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
he’s not got a good record in Perth "good record" in what CtD? According to CI last night was his 1st T20I there. To go with his one ODI...