Fourth T20I: Starc's heroics powers Australia to win against WI
Mitchell Starc's heroics in the final over powered Australia to victory in the fourth T20I against West Indies. The hosts fell four runs short at the end, chasing 190. Mitchell Marsh once again starred for Australia with his all-round exploits. Notwithstanding, West Indies have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match T20I series. Here are the records broken.
Australia made a watchful start well after electing to bat. Skipper Aaron Finch and all-rounder Marsh put on a century stand for the second wicket. Although the middle-order failed, Dan Christian's cameo drove the visitors to 189/6. Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis gave WI a solid start. The match eventually went down to the wire, with Starc defending 11 runs in the final over.
As per Opta, Marsh has become just the second Australian to register three scores of 50+ in a single bilateral men's T20I series after David Warner. No player from any team has ever recorded more than three. Marsh is the leading run-scorer of the series, having amassed 189 runs at an average of 47.25. He owns a strike rate of 146.51.
Before the series, Marsh didn't have a single fifty in the format. In the fourth T20I, he took the tally to three by scoring a blistering 75 (44). His scores in the previous three T20Is read as - 9, 54, 51. Besides, Marsh also snapped up three wickets for 24 runs in the third match. He was named the Player of the Match.
Australian skipper racked up his 15th half-century in T20Is. He finished with a 37-ball 53, a knock studded with 5 fours and 3 sixes. In the process, Finch went past Mohammad Hafeez (2,388) in terms of T20I runs. Finch (2,439) is now the fourth-highest run-scorer in the format after Virat Kohli (3,159), Martin Guptill (2,939), and Rohit Sharma (2,864).
Simmons continued his sublime run in the series. He brought up his ninth T20I half-century, having scored 72 off 48 balls. The Caribbean opener now has the third-most fifties in T20Is after Gayle (14) and Marlon Samuels (10). Simmons, along with Lewis scored 75 runs in the powerplay. This was WI's second-highest score in the first six overs against Australia.
West Indies required 36 runs in the last two overs. Riley Meredith conceded 25 runs in the penultimate over, with Fabian Allen smashing three consecutive sixes. However, the latter was dismissed on the final delivery. It all came to the final over where Starc had to defend 11 runs. He delivered four consecutive dot balls to Andre Russell before stealing a four-run victory.
