Brilliant fielding, murderous batting: Maxwell's night out makes it 4-0 in St Kitts

The Age

4 days ago

The pressure exerted by Australia's batters was shown by how the West Indian bowlers, pace and spin alike, were often unwilling to put the ball in a spot where it could be reached. As a consequence, they delivered an eye-watering 16 wides.
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He signalled his intention to make an impact in the field, as the Australians again sought to restrict West Indies on the almost comically small Warner Park. With boundaries of similar dimensions to Eden Park in Auckland, sixes tend to be the rule rather than the exception.
But Maxwell's interventions helped ensure that those big hits were somewhat curtailed. His first catch, diving forward to get game-three centurion Shai Hope, was excellent in itself. The second, leaping up to pluck Roston Chase as though picking an apple from a high tree branch, was gloriously nonchalant.
These two were merely scene-setters, however, for the exit of Romario Shepherd. Leaning back to pummel Adam Zampa down the ground, Shepherd looked satisfied that he'd hit a six.
The ball had maybe a couple more inches to travel over the rope when it was intercepted by a flying Maxwell, who kept his foot inside the boundary and flicked the ball to Green before sprawling over the line. The umpire's check confirmed a sublime bit of athleticism and timing.
Rain stopped the West Indies innings with four balls left at 9-203, but play resumed after 55 minutes without any overs deducted. Nathan Ellis, best of the Australian bowlers with figures of 0-21 from his four overs, conceded just two runs from those four balls.
After Inglis and Maxwell had their say with the bat, the Australians subsided briefly with the loss of 3-5 in 10 balls. David had been rested in recognition that he is still recovering from a serious hamstring injury, and this gave Hardie and Bartlett the opportunity to accompany Green to the finish line.
Bartlett was unluckily out when a straight drive hit the stumps via Shepherd's hand while he was backing up, before Green and Sean Abbott ended the game with four balls to spare – just as the rain returned.
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This was another major reverse for the West Indies, who struggled against Australia in the Test series but have shown even more weakness in T20, which had once been the region's strength. No batter got past 31 in this game, while the fielding was often desultory at best. With 11 runs still required, Sherfaine Rutherford dropped Green on the boundary.
Australia will duly have the opportunity to complete an unbeaten tour of the Caribbean in the final game on Tuesday morning, before another white-ball series against South Africa on home soil in August.