The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Clarke stars in Australia’s win

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Clarke stars in Australia’s win

ST. GEORGE’S (Grenada): Michael Clarke enhanced his reputation with a handy all-round performance that gave Australia a 2-0 lead in their five-match one-day international series with West Indies, when it won the rain-affected second match by 63 runs on Friday.

The Australia vice-captain followed up a vital innings of 56 from 98 balls with three wickets for 26 runs from six overs, as the visitor successfully defended a revised victory target under the Duckworth-Lewis Method of 204 from 41 overs.

Clarke earned the man-of-the-match award, as the Australians restricted West Indies to 140 for eight from its allocation of 41 overs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 46 not out from 77 balls was the top score for West Indies, but no other West Indies batsman suggested substance or stability.

Clarke, bowling his uncomplicated left-arm spin, snuffed the life out of any ideas West Indies had of a fightback, after it subsided to 49 for four in the 21st over. He removed Patrick Browne for one, Kieron Pollard for a duck, and Darren Sammy for nine either side of a near hour-long stoppage for rain to leave West Indies on 74 for seven in the 31st over.

Australia had set West Indies back from the very first ball of the innings, when Brett Lee had Xavier Marshall caught behind for a duck.

Lee and new-ball partner Nathan Bracken kept up the pressure with mean, purposeful bowling in their opening spells that starved West Indies of a rapid response from the top order. But Australia had to wait until the eighth over for the second breakthrough, when West Indies captain Chris Gayle was caught at mid-off off Mitchell Johnson for 10 miscuing a cross-batted stroke at a short, rising ball.

Johnson and the other Australia support bowlers made sure that the work of Lee and Bracken was not wasted, and they too, bowled steadily. — Agencies

SCOREBOARD

Australia: 213 for five in 50 overs.

West Indies: (target: 204 runs from 41 overs): X. Marshall c Ronchi b Lee 0, C. Gayle c Ponting b Johnson 10, A. Fletcher b Hopes 19, S. Chanderpaul (not out) 46, D. Bravo c Hussey b Watson 3, P. Browne c White b Clarke 1, K. Pollard c Watson b Clarke 0, D. Sammy c Johnson b Clarke 9, D. Powell b Watson 21, S. Benn (not out) 23; Extras (lb-1, w-5, nb-2) 8; Total (for eight wickets): 140

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-23, 3-41, 4-49, 5-53, 6-53, 7-74, 8-105.

Australia bowling: Lee 7-1-26-1, Bracken 9-0-32-0, Johnson 4-0-14-1, Watson 7-1-22-2, Hopes 8-3-19-1, Clarke 6-0-26-3.

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