WI vs AUS: Australia thrash Windies by 133 runs in rain-hit 1st ODI

Bridgetown: Australia thrashed West Indies by 133 runs via the DLS method in a rain-hit first ODI of the three match series, here on Wednesday.

Chasing a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) adjusted 257 runs for victory in 49 overs, West Indies were off to a bad start as Mitchell Starc (5/48) removed Evin Lewis in the first ball of the innings.

He struck again in his next over, bowling Jason Mohammed (2) with a trademark yorker and made it three in as many overs when he trapped Nicholas Pooran in front for a duck.

Hazlewood (3/11) also got in on the act in his second over, taking a simple catch off his own bowling to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer (11). The seamer struck again in each of his next two overs, having Darren Bravo (2) caught at cover and Jason Holder (0) on the ropes.

Thereafter, a 68-run stand between Kieron Pollard and Alzarri Joseph (17) rebuilt the innings. Mitchell Marsh (1/7) brought the fighting partnership to an end in the 19th over when he bowled Joseph.

Starc's return in the 23rd over ended West Indies' hopes of comeback, with the quick having Pollard caught in the slips for 56 before wrapping up the eighth five-wicket haul of his ODI career by blowing Akeal Hosein's front pad away for a duck.

Adam Zampa (1/39) brought the match to a close with the dismissal of Hayden Walsh Jr (20) in the 27th over.

Earlier, Australia were held to 252/9 from their 49-overs, with a 104-run stand between Carey (67) and Ashton Turner (49) providing the backbone of the innings.

Josh Philippe, making his debut alongside Ben McDermott (28) and Wes Agar, was the first man out for Australia, bowled for 39 as Hosein (2/50) ended a 51-run first-wicket combination.

Wickets at regular intervals from there saw the Australians reduced to 114/4 in the 26th over when Turner joined Carey in the middle. Captaining the country for the first time, Carey rebuilt Australia’s innings with Turner, bringing up his half-century in 72 balls, accelerating as his score grew.

Having taken 72 balls to raise the fifty-run partnership, Carey and Turner only took another 35 deliveries to bring up their hundred-run stand. Just as the duo looked set to launch, Walsh Jr worked his magic.

Walsh Jr finished with figures of 5/39, taking the first of those wickets in the 45th over. The leggie bowled Carey to open his account and four balls later drew a top edge from Turner that landed in the hands of deep square leg.

He collected another two wickets in his next over, accounting for Starc (8) and Matthew Wade (3) before wrapping up a maiden ODI five-for by dismissing Agar (9) in the final over.

Tuesday's victory helped Australia move to third on the Cricket World Cup Super League Standings with 50 points, one more than India. (UNI)