Australia captain had nothing to worry about as team wins match
Australia won against their second ICC Cricket World Cup match against West Indies on Thursday at Trent Bridge by 15 runs.
West Indies’ bowlers were too fast at the start for Australia to handle because they only had 38 for four. However, Australian fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile started a successful counterattack when he scored 92 that helped his team to 288 all out.
Coulter-Nile and right-handed batsman Steve Smith continued raising the score until they achieved 102 in 89 balls. Smith was able to score with 73 in total.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc completed the attack on Windies with five for 46 and a late burst of four for two in 11 balls.
“We just kept hanging in there. We were able to fight back through Alex Carey and Steve Smith. Then for Nathan Coulter-Nile to play the way he did was exceptional,” said Australia captain Aaron Finch after the match ended.
“I absolutely was nervous. Once the West Indies batsmen get set, they are so destructive and can hit it to all parts. You have to try and stall their moment and get them to take risks. It came off today but we still need to work on things,” continued Finch.
Meanwhile, West Indies captain Jason Holder said that he thought they were going to win their match against Australia with only a few more scores.
“I thought we were well in the game, just a few irresponsible shots when we probably needed to tap it around a bit more,” said all-rounder Holder. “To get Australia at 288 we would have taken that, I just think the batters need to take responsibility. We still believe we can win this competition, it’s wide open.”
However, Windies did not expect Smith to top-edge a hook off Holder at 26 and West Indies bowler Sheldon Cottrell slip at long leg. Coulter-Nile then made 60 balls with eight fours and four sixes that pushed Windies’ all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite to Holder at long-off.
The match ended with Australia winning 288 while West Indies had 273/9.
The Carribean has odds of +900 of winning the entire tournament while Australia has +315.
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