Smith: We won because we negated Narine
Vinode Mamchan
Published: Guardian
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Australian skipper Steven Smith says that his team won the Ballr Tri-series because they played off-spinner Sunil Narine well. Australia won the tournament on Sunday after dismissing the West Indies for 212 in reply to their 270-9.
Smith said:
â€I thought we were able to do well because we negated Narine. We batted well against him and he being the trump card for the West Indies, it worked well.
“The West Indies will be able to take away a lot from the series because they scrapped well against the number one and number three teams. Playing against them was not easy and I must say they played good cricket. What struck me the most about this West Indies team was the fact that they fought well. We had them three wickets down for little in one of the games and they went on to get 280, against South Africa they lost four early wickets and still came back to get enough runs to win the game.
“I like how they scrapped throughout the series and this is something they must be proud of.â€
Turning his attention to his team, he said :â€It is always good to win but there is plenty room for improvement. I liked the energy we showed out there and I see no reason why we cannot do that for every game. There is also an aspect of our fielding that needs to be improved but all in all we are happy with the performance of this team.â€
“A number of the guys are playing well and coming into their own and I was very happy for Josh Hazelwood who won the player of the series award. He has improved all the way along and understands his body now and is getting the results. Young Zampa was another who played well.â€
Scoreboard
WI vs Aus
Aus inns
A Finch c Samuels b Pollard 47
U Khawaja c Ramdin b Holder 14
S Smith c Samuels b Gabriel 46
G Bailey b Brathwaite 22
M Marsh b Benn 32
G Maxwell lbw Gabriel 4
M Wade not out 57
M Starc st Ramdin b Narine 17
N Coulter Nile c Bravo b Holder 15
A Zampa run out 5
J Hazelwood not out 0
Extras 1b, 8w, 2lb 11
Total for 9 wkts (50ovs) 270
Fall of wkts: 28, 69, 120, 152, 156, 173, 211, 238, 264.
Bowling: J Holder 10-1-57-2, S Gabriel 7-0-58-2, S Narine 10-1-55-1, K Pollard 5-0-33-1, C Brathwaite 8-2-31-1, S Benn 10-0-38-1.
WI inns
J Charles lbw Marsh 45
A Fletcher c Smith b Hazelwood 9
D Bravo c Wade b Marsh 6
M Samuels c Bailey b Marsh 6
D Ramdin b Hazelwood 40
K Pollard c Hazelwood b Zampa 20
J Holder c Finch b Coulter Nile 34
C Brathwaite b Hazelwood 14
S Narine c Smith b Hazelwood 23
S Benn c Maxwell b Hazelwood 2
S Gabriel not out 1
Extras 9w, 1nb, 2lb 12
Total all out (45.4ovs) 212
Fall of wkts: 49, 62, 68, 72, 105, 178, 185, 194, 211, 212.
Bowling: M Starc 8-0-32-0, J Hazelwood 9.4-0-50-5, N Coulter Nile 8-0-46-1, M Marsh 10-1-32-3, A Zampa 10-0-50-1.
www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2016-06-28/smit...se-we-negated-narine