(Cricket News) After being sent in, Australia dominated the bookends in an equal-record T20I score in Hobart with Warner smashing a half-century off 36 deliveries and Tim David hitting a 17-ball 37.

Chasing 214, West Indies were on track with openers Brandon King and Johnson Charles smashing a half-century partnership inside four overs, but Zampa bowled superbly in the middle overs to outfox an ultra-aggressive West Indies, who fell short. The three-match series effectively starts T20 World Cup preparations for both teams. Game two is scheduled for Sunday in Adelaide.

Warner is all but guaranteed a spot in the T20 World Cup, which will be his final tournament in international cricket. However, the hunt is on to find Warner’s opening partner, with Josh Inglis getting the first opportunity after impressing at the top of the order in the ODI series.

In his 16th T20I, Inglis opened the bowl after scoring a century in India late last year while batting at No. 3. With Matthew Wade taking the gloves, Inglis played as a specialist batter and watched intently as Warner blasted the new ball.

Though he never quite found his timing, Inglis still displayed his 360-degree range, scoring 39 off 25 balls, including a boundary that allowed him to smash left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein through the off-side.

After struggling on slow UAE pitches in the ILT20, Warner relished the faster surface as he raced to his half-century off 22 balls. However, he slowed down after the wicket of Inglis before falling to a slower Alzarri Joseph delivery in the 13th over.

Warner joined Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli as the only players to have reached 100 internationals in each format. His best stroke was a clever reverse lap scoop off Andre Russell to showcase his cavalier batting before unfurling a full-blooded pull shot in a reminder that his game was honed on bouncy WACA pitches.

The West Indies were stacked with all-rounders and Joseph was their only bowler with true pace; his extra pace accounted for Mitchell Marsh, who played despite testing positive for Covid-19 and set up a West Indies comeback.

Their seamers took the pace off in the backend with slower balls accounting for several wickets as Australia’s big hitters attempted to clear the ground, but they were hapless at the death against David as Australia finished with a flurry.

Captain Rovman Powell had hoped for early inroads on a grassy surface, but his attack struggled to threaten with the new ball. The West Indies’ reliance on slower deliveries seems risky on the firmer Australian pitches, but it looks like a blueprint for the anticipated slower surfaces at their home World Cup.

They will need to rectify their careless fielding, which was hindered by a few missed catches and misfields. The batting order of the West Indies hardly made an impact in the ODI series, but they were strengthened by a number of potent batsmen. King and Charles, who were both absent because of T20 franchise cricket commitments, were warmly received upon their return and torn apart.

West Indies continued to go the aerial route but fell away despite a late onslaught from Holder. They started quickly and in the third over bludgeoned Glenn Maxwell’s off-spin for 17 runs, even monstering Josh Hazlewood for a huge six out of the ground that required a replacement ball.

However, Charles holed out to Zampa in the ninth over while King reached a half-century off 36 deliveries, but fell on the next ball attempting to hit Marcus Stoinis for six on the leg-side.
Although Australia’s front-line pace attack is clearly set, there is still mystery surrounding the selection of other quicks for the World Cup.

Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff, who made waves last year with a breakout IPL performance, is one of the contenders and was picked for this series with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc rested.
However, the windy conditions hindered Behrendorff’s ability to produce his trademark swing, and he was hit for 16 runs in the opening over before finishing with 1 for 38 off 3 overs.

It was left to Zampa to steady Australia, and he produced a brilliant 16th over to claim the wickets of Russell and Nicholas Pooran, effectively ending the West Indies innings.

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