Mitchell Starc defends 11 runs in last over to help Australia win T20I against West Indies

The Australian squad led by Aaron Finch has finally bounced back in the fourth T20I against West Indies, winning the match by 4 runs to avoid a clean sweep in the five-match series. Australia won the match courtesy of an all-round performance by Mitchell Marsh, who, batting first, scored 75 off 44 balls and then picked 3 wickets in the second innings. Pacer Mitchell Starc also proved to be crucial as he delivered the final over and prevented West Indies batters from scoring 11 runs off 6 balls.

West Indies vs Australia 4th T20I

Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first against the world champions. Australia suffered an early blow as opener Matthew Wade was dismissed by Oshane Thomas for just 5 runs. Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh forged an important partnership to take Australia to 126/2 before the former was bowled out by Hayden Walsh Jr. for 53 runs. Australia lost another wicket on the very next ball as Alex Carey was dismissed for a duck. Moises Henriques also lost his wicket in the next over for 6 runs. 

Hayden Walsh Jr. picked his third wicket in the form of Australian lower-order batsman Ashton Turner. Mitchell Marsh remained on the crease to get to his 75 before he was dismissed by Fabian Allen. Dan Christian scored a quick 22 off 14 balls to take Australia to a respectable total of 189/6 in 20 overs. When West Indies came to bat in the second innings, both openers looked solid as they forged a 62-run partnership together with Lendl Simmons scoring 72 off 48 balls and Evin Lewis hitting 31 off just 14 balls. 

Chris Gayle, who was the half-centurion and the player of the match in the previous game, was dismissed for just 1 run by Marsh. Stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran scored some runs but was dismissed for 16 runs by Marsh in the 16th over. Andre Russell and Fabian Allen were looking to finish it for the West Indies before the latter was dismissed for 29 runs in the 19th over. Starc, who didn't pick a single wicket in the match, bowled a superb over in the end to defend 11 runs off just 6 balls with Russell in the middle. Russell remained 24 not-out but couldn't finish the chase as West Indies fell short of just 4 runs. 

(Image Credit: cricket.com.au)