Shane Watson hammers West Indies – Warm –up match

Australia 6-259 (Shane Watson 135, Adam Voges 43, Mitchell Marsh 39*, Kemar Roach 2-44, Tino Best 2-51) beat West Indies 9-256 (Darren Bravo 86, Johnson Charles 55, Mitchell Starc 4-29, Clint McKay 3-45) by four wickets.

The explosive opener of Australia, Shane Watson, exposed the bowling of West Indies by plundering a magnificent ton as the Kangaroos clinched the game easily.

West Indies managed 256 runs for the loss of 9 wickets after utilising the full quota of 50 overs and Australia powered 259 with four wickets intact and 11.1 overs to spare.

The 2013 ICC Champions Trophy warm up match was played on Saturday, June 1, 2013, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, which was a neutral venue.

The skipper of West Indies, Dwayne Bravo, won the toss and elected to bat first to provide his batsmen an ample batting practice. The Windies lost their first wicket at 28 after 4.2 overs as Darren Bravo along with Johnson Charles gave stability to their innings. They crafted the game with a positive frame of mind without taking any risk and remained determined at the crease. Darren Bravo was the most aggressive of the two and enjoyed playing his shots at will whereas Charles kept on steeling the runs at his end. The score was taken to 93 after 19.4 overs when Johnson Charles was declared leg before wicket off Clint McKay for 55 off 63 balls with 4 fours.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was the next batsman in who tried to play a defensive innings whereas Bravo did not spare any loose ball and treated it accordingly. Sarwan became the next victim for 22 and was replaced by Dwayne Bravo who tried to pick up the run rate with his brother at the other end. Dwayne Bravo was gone next at 195 in 38.1 overs after scoring 20 runs and Darren Bravo was clean bowled by McKay after playing a useful knock of 86 off 99 deliveries with 2 lofty sixes and 10 fours. Denesh Ramdin scored 25 as the Carribeans reached 9-256 in 50 overs.

Mitchell Starc was the highest wicket taker with four, Clint McKay held three and Shane Watson chipped in with one wicket.

Shane Watson - Plundered 135 off 98 mere balls
Shane Watson – Plundered 135 off 98 mere balls

Kemar Roach struck early for the Windies and got rid of the two top order batsmen of the Aussies in his very first over. David Warner and Phillip Hughes lost their wickets without any run in an identical fashion when Ramdin held their excellent catches behind the wickets. George Bailey joined in with Shane Watson who looked like being in a great nick and tried to conquer the rival bowling from the word go. Bailey was dropped by Dwayne Bravo in the first slip but was unable to utilize the chance and was caught behind off Darren Sammy for 21 as the total touched 72 in 13.5 overs.

Adam Voges got together with Watson and they tried to stabilise the innings initially to avoid any further loss. The latter took over and demonstrated his skills by dispatching the ball around all corners of the rope with powerful drives. Voges assisted him well at the other end and kept on adding the useful runs with occasional fours. Shane Watson plundered his century on 85 balls and most of his runs were earned with the boundaries. The third wicket partnership was broken at 197 after the pair contributed 125 runs on 103 balls. Shane Watson was caught by Darren Bravo off Tino Best for 135 from 98 mere deliveries comprising 4 giant sixes and 15 well timed fours. Voges departed at 205 in 32.3 overs at his personal score of 43 off 57 with 5 fours. Mitchell Marsh played a breezy unbeaten innings of 39 off just 19 balls with 8 fours as the Kangaroos amassed 259 for the loss of six wickets in 38.5 overs.

Tino Best and Kemar Roach were the top wicket takers with two each whereas Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo shared one wicket each.

Australia won the one sided match with a sizable margin of four wickets and had a real good work out in the warm-up game.


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