In World T20 warm-up, West Indies overcome Hazlewood trick

KOLKATA: Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood's hat-trick went in vain as the West Indies staged a remarkable comeback to post a three-wicket win in their World T20 warm-up match at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
The Australian and West Indian innings were quite a study in contrast. The Aussies got bogged down after openers Aaron Finch and Shane Watson gave them a flying start, while the Windies reached the target of 162 losing seven wickets even after Hazlewood had removed Jason Holder, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo in the fourth over.
The fact that they overhauled Australia's total of 161 for 9 without using the services of the explosive Chris Gayle will give the West Indies heart, going into their WT20 opener against England on Wednesday .Skipper Darren Sammy breaking into an impromptu jig on hitting the winning run off the penultimate ball said it all.
Australia looked to be on course for a huge total as they raced to 50 in just 5.4 overs. But once they lost Finch and Watson, the middle-order failed to maintain the tempo and wickets fell at regular intervals from the 13th over.
Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo bagged three and four wickets respectively. Hazlewood was on target from the word go and got into the act in his second over. He first trapped Test skipper Holder, who was experimented as an opener, leg-before with one that came in sharply. Hazlewood then uprooted Samuels' leg stump with his next delivery and then got one to cut back sharply off the pitch to castle Bravo and complete his hat-trick.
At 18 for 3, it looked all over for the Windies. But skipper Sammy mixed patience with aggression and stayed till the end to see his team home. The all-rounder hit six fours and a six to stay unbeaten on 50.
Brief scores: Australia 1619 (S Watson 60, S Smith 36; D Bravo 421, S Benn 337) lost to West Indies 1627 (D Sammy 50*, C Brathwaite 33; J Hazlewood 3 13) by three wickets.