Glenn Maxwell backed up a brilliant fielding performance with some batting fireworks as Australia chased down a target of 206 to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match T20I cricket series against West Indies.
Maxwell smacked 47 off just 18 balls, with six sixes and a four, after opening the innings with Josh Inglis (51 off 30) and Cameron Green (55 not out off 35) also sending the bowlers to all corners of Warner Park in St Kitts as the tourists cruised home with four balls to spare.
Australia have now won all seven matches on the Caribbean tour and can complete a clean sweep of each series in the final T20 at the same venue on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat for the fourth straight time after losing every toss of the coin, West Indies made 9-205.
No overs were lost despite a 55-minute rain break with four balls of the West Indies innings left.
The Australian catching was exceptional, with Maxwell going low and leaping high to take two excellent efforts at mid-off, and Mitchell Owen taking a diving snare at deep backward point.
Maxwell’s athleticism shone again late in the innings, when he took a high catch at long-on and flicked the ball back to Cameron Green before falling over the boundary to complete the dismissal.
The innings was full of brief explosive batting cameos, with Sherfane Rutherford (31 off 15), Romario Shepherd (28 off 18), Rovman Powell (28 off 22), Jason Holder (26 off 16), Shimron Hetmyer (16 off 6) and Matthew Forde (15 off 7) all unable to capitalise on fast starts.
Australia made two changes to the team with game three centurion Tim David and paceman Ben Dwarshuis rested, replaced by allrounder Aaron Hardie and paceman Xavier Bartlett.
The two inclusions bowled the opening five overs of the innings and combined to take the first wicket, with Brandon King caught at mid-on by Hardie off Bartlett’s last ball of his first over.
Bartlett (2-39 off 4) struck again with the first delivery of his next over, having West Indies captain Shai Hope caught at mid-on by Maxwell.
Maxwell’s second catch removed Roston Chase for a first-ball duck off Hardie.
Wickets fell at regular intervals, but West Indies maintained a strong run-rate, smashing 21 fours and 12 sixes.
Nathan Ellis (0-21off 4) and Hardie (2-24 off 4) both bowled tidily on a small ground with short boundaries.
Paceman Sean Abbott (2-61 off 4) and legspinner Adam Zampa (3-54 off 4) bore the brunt of the assault.
Mitchell Marsh fell for a duck in the first over of Australia’s reply before Inglis and Maxwell blitzed 66 runs in less than six overs.
Maxwell upped his ante after Inglis departed and Australia were cruising by the time he was dismissed in the 11th over at 3-129.
Green bludgeoned three fours and as many sixes as he stood tall when the Aussies lost 3-5 and with Aaron Hardie chipping in with a handy 23, he hit the winning runs after recording his third half-century of the series.
