Cameron Green broke his bat hitting one of his four sixes over the scoreboard at Sabina Park and Josh Inglis brought up his 50 with a shot which landed on a grandstand roof as the Australian duo blasted the West Indian bowlers to deliver a second-straight T20 win in Jamaica.
Matt Kuhnemann became a three-format player on his T20 debut as a spin plan brought the home team undone despite another worrying failure from Glenn Maxwell who replaced dumped dynamo Jake Fraser-McGurk at the top of the order.
Cricket In-Article Head to head CAPI
After first-gamer Mitch Owen blasted the tourists to victory on Monday, Wednesday was debutant Kuhnemann’s turn and the left-arm tweaker went for just 13 runs off three of his overs, and 20 off another, opening the bowling on debut, as spinners took five wickets from 11 of the 20 overs sent down.
Adam Zampa snared three wickets and Maxwell two to limit the home team to 8-172, despite three Australian dropped catches.
Maxwell, who was promoted to open, failed to get going, again, and his recent returns for the Australian T20 team – just two scores above 40 in his past 14 innings – could possibly cast doubt over his sport after the emergence of Owen who can bat and bowl.
But his early dismissal for just 12, and captain Mitch Marsh’s exit brought Green and Inglis together on a turning pitch which wasn’t without its challenges.
The WA pair played and missed a few times but also swatted nine sixes in a 131-run partnership, a new record, which powered the tourists to an eight-wicket win and a 2-0 series lead, reaching their target with 28 balls to spare.
Inglis finished unbeaten on 78 of fjust 33 balls while Green, who belted 51 in the opening game, added 56 off 32 balls to his series total.
Inglis brought up his 50 off just 22 balls, reaching his milestone with a six which hit the grandstand roof and dribbled down into the gutter, forcing a quick break in play.
He was dropped on 60 after skying a pull shot, one of a handful of dropped catches shared between the two teams, and Green hit the next ball for six to pile on the pain.
Earlier, Maxwell gave Shimron Hetmyer a send-off after claiming his wicket the ball following a DRS review denied by “umpire’s call” .
“It only cost me one ball,” he screamed twice.
He finished with 2-15, but his 10-ball struggle with the bat was more telling, with Owen, who wasn;t required to bat in his second game after making a half-century on debut, looming as another potential opening option for the Australians with three games in the series to go.
BIDING HIS TIME
Kuhnemann had been rolling his arm over in the nets as part of the Australian squad for more than six weeks before getting his call-up in Jamaica.
The left-arm spinner had been unused squad member for last month’s World Test Championship final, the three Tests against the West Indies and missed the series opening T20 as well.
But the 28-year-old added his T20 cap to his ODI and Test appearances for Australia, giving him a stat in all three forms. All of his international appearances have, however, come overseas.
BYE BYE DRE
As Kuhnemann played his first T20, West Indian superstar Andre Russell played his last having decided to end his international career at his home ground in Kingston.
Russell, who has made some stunning Big Bash cameos, went out with a bang too, blasting four sixes in a 15-ball innings of 36 as he signed off.
The all-rounder played 142 matches for the West Indies, including a solitary Test in 2010, and remains a box-office drawcard in T20 tournaments around the world.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au