Rain holds sway,so do Australia and South Africa

Shane Watson,batting on a 24-ball 41,was adjudicated the man of the match for helping his side gain a 17 run lead over Darren Sammy’s men. But Watson,like everyone else present in this packed arena,knew that had it gone down to the wire and Sunil Narine bowled his full quota of overs (he went for 16 in his two),then there was a very good chance that it would have been this edition of the World T20’s first classic.

Watson,during his knock,made amends for the mistakes he committed on the field during the first innings. Fielding at third man,Watson was guilty of judging the ball late and dropping the one man you cannot drop early in his innings,Chris Gayle. Then,Gayle was on four. The terrifying hitter from Jamaica went on to make 54,bringing up yet another T20I half-ton in 26 balls.

Watson would eventually get his man,caught and bowled in the 11th over,but his drop had ensured that the Cup finally burst into life for the first time since the 12 teams landed in this island.

Opting to bat first,Gayle and Marlon Samuels primarily ensured that the momentum was sustained through the innings as West Indies uniformly scored 43,50,45 and 53 in five-over batches. That momentum was given its first yardstick by the Caribbean side’s number three man,Johnson Charles. Walking in at the early fall of Dwayne Smith,Charles hit Mitchell Starc for a six and four in consecutive balls before Gayle snatched the baton next over by blasting three boundaries and a six off Pat Cummins. West Indies had plundered 28 in eight deliveries to set sailing.

Gayle-Samuels show

Gayle soon opened up his stance,swatting through the off-side and pulling with contempt at anything short. Then,he began flicking sixes over square-leg and mid-wicket and straight over the bowler’s head.

He showed no disparity between Cummins’ searing pace or Glenn Maxwell’s attempted off-breaks.

At the other end,Samuels showed how runs can be scored quickly,in a slightly more orthodox manner. Samuels took centrestage after Gayle’s exit,converting his sombre 15 runs from 18 balls into 50 from 31 balls.

On the other side of the break,David Warner matched Gayle for strokes and audacity,hammering Ravi Rampaul for two sixes and two boundaries in the second over of the innings. Warner’s quickfire start was taken to another level when Watson decided to have some fun too,hitting Samuels for two sixes and two boundaries in the eighth over. Then,just when it looked like there would be more such 20-plus run overs,the anticlimax played itself out.

Brief scores: West Indies: 191 for eight in 20 ovs (CGayle 54,M Samuels 50; M Starc 3/35) lost to Australia:100 for one in 9.1 overs (S Watson 41 n.o.,M Hussey 28 n.o.)