Sydney: Australian skipper Shane Watson is not surprised by the fighting spirit shown by the West Indies so far in the one-day series.
Many in the Caribbean and back in Australia felt the once-mighty Windies would be easy to beat, but after Tuesday’s thrilling tie in the third one-day international in St Vincent, the five-match series is locked 1-1 going into the fourth and fifth matches in St Lucia.
A century stand by man-of-the-match Michael Hussey (67) and George Bailey (59) seemed to have the tourists poised for a big first-innings total only for the Australians to lose their last six wickets for 18 runs to be dismissed for 220.
That total looked like enough when the Windies were 6-117 in their run-chase before Andre Russell (37), Carlton Baugh (33) and Darren Sammy (10) put the hosts within one run of victory with three balls remaining, a leading daily reports.
Then a disastrous mix-up between Sammy and last man Kemar Roach gifted the Aussies a run-out and a ninth ODI tie in the nation`s history to leave both teams ruing missed opportunities.
“Not surprised. Not with the amount of talent they’ve got within their team. They seem like a really good, tight-knit unit. They’re a really impressive fielding unit. The way all the guys move around the field is pretty amazing to watch,” Watson said.
“West Indies is playing some really good cricket. It`s going to set up a couple of really good games in St Lucia and hopefully we can get up and put a complete game together,” he said.
ANI
First Published: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 12:00