Australia 259 for 6 (Watson 135) beat West Indies 256 for 9 (DM Bravo 86, Starc 4-29) by four wickets
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Shane Watson gave West Indies a good lesson in how to change gears
through an innings with a powerful century that helped Australia
register an easy four-wicket victory in their first warm-up match with
11.1 overs to spare.
Despite the loss of both Australian openers in the opening over of the
chase from Kemar Roach, Watson remained assertive throughout, combining
well with Adam Voges in a match-winning 125-run fourth-wicket
partnership as the pair took advantage of the indiscipline that crept
into the West Indies bowling after the first 15 overs.
In the end a modest target of 257, on a seaming pitch, was made to look
pedestrian by Watson, who made certain that the 2,000 fans, who had paid
£20 a ticket, remained entertained despite the absence of Chris Gayle,
who had been rested. Playing with the same gusto and aggression that
Gayle uses to dominate opponents, Watson showed why he remains one of
the most dangerous batsman in the game.
Roach, playing for the first time in England after returning home midway
from the Tests series last year, made an immediate impact by getting
rid of David Warner and Philip Hughes, who paid the price for playing
expansive drives against similar deliveries: angled and moving away from
the bat. Both were caught brilliantly by Denesh Ramdin, who dived to
take the catch in front of first slip.
In the absence of Michael Clarke (rested along with Glen Maxwell and
Xavier Doherty), Watson was the most experienced Australian batsman. To
begin with, West Indies fast bowling contingent did well not to get
carried away after the two quick wickets. Roach, Tino Best, Jason Holder
and Darren Sammy maintained a tight off-stump line without giving much
width to Watson and his stand-in captain George Bailey to free their
arms in the initial Powerplay overs.
At 40 for 2 from the first 10 overs, Bailey was getting restless and had
a few near misses. On 14, having pulled Holder for four, Bailey earned a
life after Dwayne Bravo, at first slip, dropped a thick edge while
attempting to take the catch on the dive to his right. But Bailey failed
to make the most of the opportunity as he went for a slashing drive
against Sammy a couple of overs later, to be caught by a second
brilliant catch by Ramdin, who had a field day with four catches.
Watson remained unperturbed. He had come into the Champions Trophy on
the back of good form in the IPL where he was the fifth-highest run
maker. The difference today was he was opening compared to batting in
the middle order during the IPL. Yet he adjusted without fuss and was at
ease both on the front and back foot. Not rushing into his strokes, he
made use of the bowler's lengths wisely. When Holder gifted him a
half-volley, Watson punished him with a lofted drive over the mid-off
for four. Next delivery, when the bowler pitched slightly fuller on
middle and leg, Watson played a wristy drive to the left of midwicket
for another easy four.
West Indies, especially Dwayne Bravo, tried to attack Watson. Bravo, in
his very first over, tried to bowl short but was wayward and taken for
13 runs. He kept repeating the mistake in his following over, from
around the wicket, to allow Watson to move closer to his century, which
he reached with a chip-and-charge for a single. It had taken him 85
balls with 58 runs coming in boundaries.
At the halfway mark Australia were 129 for 3. In a further five overs
they were cruising at 187 for 3 with 35 runs coming in just the 29th and
30th overs. Sunil Narine, who had gone for 12 in his first four overs,
was hit by Watson for 15 in his fifth while Dwayne Bravo went for the
most expensive over of the match, which cost 20 runs.
In the end West Indies were bound to feel disappointed. Although Darren
Bravo had worked hard to hit a lovely 86, the inability of the other
batsmen to capitalise on starts eventually robbed West Indies of
finishing with a much stronger total. Johnson Charles started the
innings with some flowing cover drives but as soon as the Australian
bowlers found their lengths, Charles failed to change the gears and
couldn't rotate the strike. In the absence of much able batsmen Marlon
Samuels and the hard-hitting Kieron Pollard in the lower order, West
Indies were always going to find it hard to build on the platform set by
Darren Bravo. But if they watched Watson closely, they would have
learned a good lesson.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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