Australia Aim To Narrow Gap

Australia captain George Bailey wants his side to narrow the gap between their best and worst after defeating West Indies by 17 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in Saturday’s World T20 clash in Colombo.

The West Indians had posted a sensational total of 8/191 with Chris Gayle belting 54 off 33, Marlon Samuels 50 off 32 and Dwayne Bravo chipping in with 27 off 21, while Mitchell Starc picked up 3/35.

In reply, Australia got off to a flying start with David Warner smashing 28 off 14 balls before being dismissed, but Shane Watson (41 off 24) and Mike Hussey (28 off 19) took up the slack before the game was called off due to rain at 1/100 after 9.1 overs.

The match was decided via the Duckworth-Lewis method with Australia’s fine early run rate and wickets in hand leading them to victory and the Super Eights in a good position.

“There was some great stuff and there was some very ordinary stuff as well,” Bailey said after his side got out of jail after their poor bowling performance.

“That’s what the challenge is, to lessen the gap between the good and the ordinary stuff. We did do that in patches, but there were certainly patches when they got away from us.”

Man-of-the-match Watson added: “It was a good day in the end. Obviously disappointing to let them score 190. Dropping Gayle was a pretty bad feeling, especially when the next 10 balls go for 30 runs. So good to make up for it with the ball and the bat.”