West Indies 160 (Dwayne Smith 63, Johnson Charles 37, Brett Lee 3-23) beat Australia 146 (David Warner 58, George Bailey 24, Fidel Edwards 3-23) by 14 runs.
An excellent team effort from West Indies let down Australia in the 2nd Twenty20 by 14 runs and the series was levelled 1-1.
The Windies were bowled out for 160 runs with two balls to spare and innings of the Kangaroos was folded back for 146 in 20 overs.
Dwayne Smith was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his aggressive knock of 63 from just 34 balls while opening the innings.
Shane Watson got the honours of ‘Player of the series’ for his superb all round performance as he scored 69 runs and held three wickets in two matches.
The second and final T20 was played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on March 30, 2012 in front of the packed house.
Earlier, Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to bat first with an illusion to put a defendable score on board. The innings was initiated by Dwayne Smith and Johnson Charles and they opened in style by collecting 14 runs in the first over with couple of fours. They produced 15 runs in the following over with a six and two fours to the speedster, Brett Lee and scored 47 runs in the first five overs.
They punished Xavier Doherty for 18 runs in the sixth over which included three fours from Smith and one off Charles. The duo contributed 72 runs from 6.4 overs when Charles was gone for 37 off 21 balls with one six and six fours. Smith carried on with his onslaught, dispatched three huge sixes to James Pattinson in the ninth over and completed his fifty. He added another ten runs on the first two balls but was caught by David Hussey at long-on off Doherty for 63 off 34 deliveries which comprised 4 mighty sixes and 6 fours.
Dwayne Bravo secured one end as the Aussies bowlers took over and the wickets started crumbling. Bravo managed 23 off 24 balls without any boundary as none other batsman entered the double figures and the whole team was sent back to the pavilion for 160 runs in 19.4 overs.
Brett Lee was the main wicket taker with three, Clint Mckay and Shane Watson shared two each as Doherty and Daniel Christian claimed one wicket each.
Australia lost their first wicket at just one run when David Warner and the captain, George Bailey stabilised the innings. Warner started off with two fours in the third over, a six in the next and Bailey joined him with one six in the same over as well. The run rate was accelerated as 11 runs were added in the fifth over and 15 in the next and the fifty of the innings was also completed.
The score was enhanced to 64 in 7.3 overs when Bailey was caught by Danza Hyatt in deep square leg off Marlon Samuels for 24 off 18 with one six and two fours. Warner posted his fifty on board in the 10th over by stealing a single on the fifth ball of the 11th over. He was the fourth batsman who was dismissed for 58 off 43 balls with 3 lofty sixes and 5 fours and that became the turning point of the game.
The middle order of the Australian batting was unable to impress and they were six wickets down for 136 in 18.1 overs. The last five batsmen were unable to reach the double figures against the lethal bowling attack of the Caribbeans and they were bowled out for 146 runs on the last ball of the 20th over.
Fidel Edwards and Marlon Samuels destroyed the Australian batting by grabbing three wickets each, Dwayen Bravo held two as two batsmen were run out.
A full house enjoyed throughout the match as they cheered and danced once the home side won the interesting game.
It was a fantastic team work by the West Indies which enabled them with a victory by 14 runs against the mighty Australia and the series was levelled 1-1.
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