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West Indies 220 (Pollard 109*, Johnson 3-36, Cutting 3-45) v Australia
The West Indies innings was a salvage operation for Kieron Pollard © AFP
An admirable Kieron Pollard rearguard dragged the West Indies to 220 in the fourth ODI at the SCG, after Mitchell Johnson had done his best Mitchell Starc impression to zip through the visitors' batting.
None of the West Indies top four reached double figures, leaving Pollard attempting to cobble some kind of total together in a match rendered dead by Australia's sealing of an unassailable 3-0 margin on Wednesday night in Canberra. He did so sensibly, showing greater restraint than has usually been characteristic while forming stands of 35 with Andre Russell and 64 with Sunil Narine.
Pollard waited until his 115th delivery to swing for the fences, crashing James Faulkner's slower ball over wide long-on, and he added another off Clint McKay before jumping for joy upon reaching three figures in front of an appreciative crowd, who at 6 for 55 had every right to wonder if they were in for an early night.
Supported by Ben Cutting, McKay and a tidy Glenn Maxwell, Johnson grabbed three early wickets to turn the West Indies innings into a salvage operation for Pollard after their captain Darren Sammy had little hesitation batting first upon winning the toss on a dry, hard surface that offered bounce for the bowlers.
Though the final total was far better than anything the visitors might have expected at halfway, the pitch shows few signs of offering assistance to the bowlers in the evening.
With the series decided, both sides made changes to their teams. The visitors omitted the injured Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Kemar Roach, their places taken by Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine and Tino Best.
Michael Clarke's team did not feature George Bailey, who was missing due to a hamstring strain, his place taken by Adam Voges. Starc was spelled after his exertions in the first three matches, Cutting included instead.
The touring openers began carefully, wary of Johnson's early swing, and in the fourth over Charles was utterly defeated by a delivery bending back late to pluck out his off stump. McKay was giving nothing away at the other end, allowing Johnson to attack, and Kieran Powell fell victim to another swinging ball before Darren Bravo failed to ride the bounce.
Dwayne Bravo was given lbw on referral when Maxwell straightened an off break into him, then Cutting extracted useful bounce on his arrival to the bowling crease that accounted for Deonarine and Devon Thomas, the latter sent on his way after the third umpire reviewed Aaron Finch's low catch.
So far in this series Pollard had not shown anything of the fearsome hitter who helped Gayle bury Australia in the World Twenty20 semi-finals, nor the batting skill that drove him to a century against the same opponents in St Lucia earlier last year, but today it all came together nicely for him.
The West Indies innings was a salvage operation for Kieron Pollard © AFP
An admirable Kieron Pollard rearguard dragged the West Indies to 220 in the fourth ODI at the SCG, after Mitchell Johnson had done his best Mitchell Starc impression to zip through the visitors' batting.
None of the West Indies top four reached double figures, leaving Pollard attempting to cobble some kind of total together in a match rendered dead by Australia's sealing of an unassailable 3-0 margin on Wednesday night in Canberra. He did so sensibly, showing greater restraint than has usually been characteristic while forming stands of 35 with Andre Russell and 64 with Sunil Narine.
Pollard waited until his 115th delivery to swing for the fences, crashing James Faulkner's slower ball over wide long-on, and he added another off Clint McKay before jumping for joy upon reaching three figures in front of an appreciative crowd, who at 6 for 55 had every right to wonder if they were in for an early night.
Supported by Ben Cutting, McKay and a tidy Glenn Maxwell, Johnson grabbed three early wickets to turn the West Indies innings into a salvage operation for Pollard after their captain Darren Sammy had little hesitation batting first upon winning the toss on a dry, hard surface that offered bounce for the bowlers.
Though the final total was far better than anything the visitors might have expected at halfway, the pitch shows few signs of offering assistance to the bowlers in the evening.
With the series decided, both sides made changes to their teams. The visitors omitted the injured Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Kemar Roach, their places taken by Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine and Tino Best.
Michael Clarke's team did not feature George Bailey, who was missing due to a hamstring strain, his place taken by Adam Voges. Starc was spelled after his exertions in the first three matches, Cutting included instead.
The touring openers began carefully, wary of Johnson's early swing, and in the fourth over Charles was utterly defeated by a delivery bending back late to pluck out his off stump. McKay was giving nothing away at the other end, allowing Johnson to attack, and Kieran Powell fell victim to another swinging ball before Darren Bravo failed to ride the bounce.
Dwayne Bravo was given lbw on referral when Maxwell straightened an off break into him, then Cutting extracted useful bounce on his arrival to the bowling crease that accounted for Deonarine and Devon Thomas, the latter sent on his way after the third umpire reviewed Aaron Finch's low catch.
So far in this series Pollard had not shown anything of the fearsome hitter who helped Gayle bury Australia in the World Twenty20 semi-finals, nor the batting skill that drove him to a century against the same opponents in St Lucia earlier last year, but today it all came together nicely for him.