Starc takes five as Australia wins big

Mitchell Starc took five for 48 and Josh Hazlewood three for 11 as Australia bowled out the West Indies for 123 to win the first One-Day International by 133 runs here on Tuesday.

West Indies was struggling at 27 for six in the eighth over and was finally all out in the 27th over chasing a revised total of 257 in 49 overs in a rain-affected match.

Captain Kieron Pollard helped the home team fend off the threat of a record low score, making 56 and putting on 68 for the seventh wicket with Alzarri Joseph (17).

Earlier, Australia’s stand-in captain Alex Carey also made a half century in a 104-run fifth-wicket partnership with Ashton Turner to lead the team to 252 for nine in 49 overs. Carey took over the captaincy for the first time in a ODI from Aaron Finch who was ruled out of the match with a knee injury.

Walsh Jr. excels

Leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Junior took five for 39, a maiden five-wicket bag in ODIs, and narrowly missed a hat-trick to limit the Australian total. But the complete failure of the West Indies’ top order in the face of accurate bowling from Starc and Hazlewood gave Australia a convincing win.

The scores: Australia 252/9 in 49 overs (Alex Carey 67, Ashton Turner 49, Walsh Jr. 5/39) bt West Indies 123 in 26.2 overs (Kieron Pollard 56, Mitchell Starc 5/48). Man-of-the-match: Starc. Australia won by 133 runs under D/L method and leads three-match series 1-0.