Australia and West Indies played out a riveting match at Trent Bridge on Thursday at the 2019 ICC World Cup, with the reigning champions ending up victorious by 15 runs in a game that went down to the last few overs. It was a day for the Aussie bowlers as their top scorer on the night was Nathan Coulter-Nile was scored a brilliant 92 and Mitchell Starc was a cut above the rest with his quick left-arm bowling helping him get his sixth fifer of his ODI career.
While Coulter-Nile claimed the man of the match award for his highest ever ODI score, it was the former Australian captain Steve Smith who was in truth the real match winner for the Australians with his composed half-century, helping his side combat the early collapse.
But thanks to some superb shot-making by Steve Smith, Alex Carey and a glorious 92 from Nathan Coulter-Nile, the Aussies were able to post a match-winning total.
— ICC (@ICC) June 6, 2019
Watch how they did it 👇#CmonAussie #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/fTF5OQ97wF
Playing just his second International match since the ban, Smith seemed to pick up from where he left off as he proved to be his team’s Mr Dependable yet again. He came in to bat with the score reading 26/2 with West Indies pacers Oshane Thomas and Sheldon Cottrell wreaking havoc with their extra pace and bounce.
The Australian wickets kept tumbling from the other end as Usman Khawaja and Glennn Maxwell also succumbed to the West Indies pacers. Smith though remained firm at the other end and batted out the bulk of the pace bowling to ensure the slew of wickets did not continue.
The 30-year-old built a strong partnership of 68 runs with wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey to get Australia close to the 150 mark by the 30th over. After Carey’s wicket, Coutler-Nile came into bat and the bowling all-rounder began attacking from the very beginning.
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Smith continued to play the anchor role in the innings as Coulter-Nile began playing his shots. He scored a brisk half century in the 40th over to ensure Australia got a more than respectable total. Smith too began to take a few calculated risks by targeting the likes of Andre Russell and Carlos Braithwaite.
The former captain scored a brilliant 73 and played out the most challenging periods of the innings before a stunning catch by Sheldon Cottrell in the boundary ended his stay. He may not have been the most aggressive on the night or amassed the most runs, by Smith showed his maturity and determination as a batsman to ensure the Aussies weathered the storm when it was most treacherous. His fine partnership with Carey gave Coutler-Nile the pedestal to go all out at the end and get Australia to a strong total of 288.
Photo Courtesy: AFP Photo/ Paul Ellis
