NOTTINGHAM, June 6: Mitchell Starc grabbed five wickets for 46 runs in a brilliant show of fast bowling as defending champions Australia pulled off a 15-run win against West Indies in a tense World Cup match to notch up their second win here on Thursday.
Sent into bat, Nathan Coulter-Nile (92 from 60 balls) played a blinder of an innings, taking cue from a dogged fight back by Steve Smith (73 from 103 balls), as Australia recovered from 38 for 4 to post a competitive 288 all out in 49 overs.
Chasing 289 for a win, the West Indies were in the hunt for most part of their innings, but they crumbled towards the end to score 273 for 9 from 50 overs.
Starc turned the match on its head by claiming three wickets in two overs in the dead after dismissing dangerous batsmen Chris Gayle (21) and Andre Russell (15) earlier.
West Indies needed 38 from the last five with four wickets in hand, but Starc removed Carlos Brathwaite (16) and captain Jason Holder (51) in the space of four balls in the 46th over before returning to dismiss Sheldon Cottrell (1) in the 48th to grab his fifth wicket and end the Caribbean side�s run chase.
Australia thus notched up their second win in the tournament after defeating Afghanistan in their first match, while the West Indies suffered their first loss after their triumph against Pakistan.
Shai Hope top-scored for West Indies with 68 from 105 balls while Nicholas Pooran made 40, besides Holder�s 51. The other batsmen got the starts, but could not convert them into big scores.
For Australia, Pat Cummins took two other West Indies wickets while Adam Zampa got one.
SCORECARD
Australia: DA Warner c Hetmyer b Cottrell 3, AJ Finch (c) c Hope b Thomas 6, UT Khawaja c Hope b Russell 13, S Smith c Cottrell b Thomas 73, GJ Maxwell c Hope b Cottrell 0, MP Stoinis c Pooran b Holder 19, AT Carey c Hope b Russell 45, NM Coulter-Nile c Holder b Brathwaite 92, PJ Cummins c Cottrell b Brathwaite 2, MA Starc c Holder b Brathwaite 8, A Zampa not out 0. Extras: 27 (b1, lb1, nb1, w 24) Total: 288 all out (49 overs). Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-26, 3-36, 4-38, 5-79, 6-147, 7-249, 8-268, 9-284, 10-288. Bowling: O Thomas 10-0-63-2, SS Cottrell 9-0-56-2, AD Russell 8-0-41-2, CR Brathwaite 10-0-67-3, JO Holder 7-2-28-1, AR Nurse 5-0-31-0.
West Indies: CH Gayle lbw b Starc 21, E Lewis c Smith b Cummins 1, SD Hope -c Khawaja b Cummins 68, N Pooran c Finch b Zampa 40, SO Hetmyer run out 21, JO Holder c Zampa b Starc 51, AD Russell c Maxwell b Starc 15, CR Brathwaite c Finch b Starc 16, AR Nurse not out 19, SS Cottrell b Starc 1, O Thomas not out 0. Extras: 20 (lb9, w11). Total: 273/9 (50 overs). Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-31, 3-99, 4-149, 5-190, 6-216, 7-252, 8-252, 9-256. Bowling: MA Starc 10-1-46-5, PJ Cummins 10-3-41-2, NM Coulter-Nile 10-0-70-0, GJ Maxwell 6-1-31-0, A Zampa 10-0-58-1, MP Stoinis 4-0-18-0. � Agencies
