Kingston: Mitchell Owen made an impressive debut as Australia beat West Indies by three wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Twenty20 International series in Jamaica on Sunday.
Owen took a wicket with his medium pace bowling before returning to smash 50 off 27 balls as Australia chased down a 190-run target with seven balls to spare.
West Indies, which lost the preceding Test series 3-0, got off to a strong start after being put into bat at Sabina Park. Captain Shai Hope (55), Roston Chase (60) and Shimron Hetmyer (38) laid the platform for a 200-plus score, but the late flourish they expected never materialised.
Andre Russell, who will quit international cricket after the second T20 on Tuesday, made only eight.
Australia’s Ben Dwarshuis (4-36) mowed down the middle and lower order as the West Indies was forced to settle for a modest 189-8.
While Australia lost both its openers, captain Mitchell Marsh and Jake Fraser-McGurk, inside the powerplay, it was propped up by a breezy 80-run stand by Cameron Green (51) and Owen. Green belted five sixes in his 26-ball blitz, while Owen smacked six of them before holing out in the 17th over with Australia on the cusp of victory. Agencies
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