Marlon Samuels Guides West Indies to 4-Wicket Win Over Australia
Marlon Samuels produced his best batting effort in One-Day International cricket against Australia to lead the West Indies to a four-wicket victory in the fifth match of the Tri-Nation series at Warner Park in St Kitts.
Set a challenging target after Usman Khawaja’s 98 and supporting half-centuries from skipper Steve Smith (74) and George Bailey (55) lifted the visitors to 265 for seven batting first, the enigmatic Samuels stroked 92 to ensure that the target was reached with 26 deliveries to spare.
"It's all about delivering for the team and keeping us in contention in the competition," Man of the Match Samuels said.
With a previous best of 63 from 27 ODIs against the most dominant team in this form of the game, the Jamaican right-hander made an important deposit on a significant overdraft against the World Cup-holders, his innings spanning 87 deliveries and decorated with eight fours and four sixes -- the last three of which came off consecutive balls from leg-spinner Adam Zampa over long-off.
In keeping with his mercurial nature, he was run out off the very next delivery to have the West Indies at 240 for four in the 41st over. Two more wickets fell to Nathan Coulter-Nile with the score at 254 before Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite formalised victory in the 46th over.
Denesh Ramdin also played a key role in the run-chase. He supported Samuels in a 73-run fourth-wicket stand and continued to play sensibly following the demise of his senior partner before being bowled by Coulter-Nile for 29
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