Russell, Rutherford seal a consolation win
(CMC) – Superstar Andre Russell blasted a Man-of-theMatch half-century and Sherfane Rutherford notched a maiden one as the West Indies wrapped up an otherwise disappointing tour of Australia with a 37-run victory in the final Twenty20 International yesterday.
Choosing to bat first at Perth Stadium, the West Indies roared to 220 for six off their 20 overs, with Russell top-scoring with 71 off just 29 balls and Rutherford belting an unbeaten 67 off 40 balls.
Off-spinning all-rounder Roston Chase chipped in with a 20-ball 37 and then returned to snatch two for 19 from four stingy overs to limit Australia to 183 for five off their 20.
Veteran left-hander David Warner spearheaded the run chase with 81 off 49 deliveries while Tim David lashed a 19-ball 41, but Australia found themselves stalled just past the halfway stage of the innings when the West Indies limited them to just 17 runs from five overs.
Australia had already wrapped up the three-match series with wins in the first two games in Hobart and Adelaide.
Andre Russell acknowledges his 25-ball fifty against Australia on Tuesday, as he is congratulated by partner Sherfane Rutherford.
“Obviously, we had two losses up front, and we said we wanted to make a promise to ourselves to not leave here without a win, so that was the challenge for us,” Chase said afterwards.
“And the guys came out after having a bit of a rough start and tried to get a good score. I thought that Russell and Rutherford really played well in the end to get us to that 210-plus score that we were looking for.”
Not for the first time in the white-ball phase of the tour, newball seamer Xavier Bartlett (237) made his presence felt early, striking twice as the West Indies stumbled to 17 for three in the third over.
Johnson Charles (4) nicked a heave at Bartlett to fall to a catch behind off the sixth ball of the game; left-hander Nicholas Pooran (1) edged seamer Jason Behrendorff low to first slip; and Kyle Mayers chopped on for 11.
Chase arrived to revive the innings, hitting three fours and a brace of sixes as he put on 55 for the fourth wicket with Powell, who made 21 from 14 balls.
When both fell in successive overs to leave the West Indies tottering again on 79 for five in the ninth, Russell and Rutherford came together in a record sixth wicket partnership of 139 to propel the Caribbean side to their eventual total.
Russell bludgeoned four fours and seven sixes in racing to his third T20I fifty off 25 balls in the penultimate over, which gushed 28 runs, before perishing in the final over.
Rutherford, meanwhile, smashed five fours and five sixes, bringing up his landmark off 33 deliveries in the 17th over with a boundary to the third man.
Facing a stiff asking rate of just over 11 runs per over, Australia were handed a flying start by Warner, who put on 68 off 39 balls for the first wicket with captain Mitchell Marsh (17) and a further 46 for the second wicket with Aaron Hardie (16).
Warner struck nine fours and three sixes but was one of two wickets to fall in the 14th over from Chase, holing out to deep mid-wicket, as Australia lost three wickets for as many runs in the space of 10 balls.
Struggling on 117 for four at the end of the 14th, and with the asking rate having climbed to nearly 17-½ runs per over, the home side never found their way back into the contest.
David struck two fours and four sixes as he posted 35 for the fifth wicket with Glenn Maxwell (12) and 31 for the sixth with Matthew Wade (seven not out), but by then the damage was irreparable.