KINGSTON: Mitchell Owen made an impressive debut as Australia beat West Indies by three wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Twenty20 International series in Jamaica on Sunday.
Owen took a wicket with his medium pace bowling before returning to smash 50 off 27 balls as Australia chased down a 190-run target with seven balls to spare.
West Indies, who lost the preceding test series 3-0, got off to a strong start after being put into bat at the Sabina Park.
Captain Shai Hope (55), Roston Chase (60) and Shimron Hetmyer (38) laid the platform for a 200-plus score but the late flourish they expected never materialised.
Andre Russell, who will quit international cricket after the second T20 on Tuesday, made only eight.
Australia’s Ben Dwarshuis (4-36) mowed down the middle and lower order as West Indies were forced to settle for a modest 189-8.
While Australia lost both their openers, captain Mitchell Marsh and Jake Fraser-McGurk, inside the powerplay they were propped up by a breezy 80-run stand by Cameron Green (51) and Owen.
Green belted five sixes in his 26-ball blitz, while Owen smacked six of them before holing out in the 17th over with Australia on the cusp of victory.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES:
B. King st Inglis b Connolly 18
S. Hope c Fraser-McGurk b Owen 55
R. Chase c Maxwell b Dwarshuis 60
S. Hetmyer c Green b Ellis 38
R. Powell c Maxwell b Abbott 1
A. Russell c Green b Dwarshuis 8
S. Rutherford c Abbott b Dwarshuis 0
J. Holder c Maxwell b Dwarshuis 0
A. Joseph not out 3
EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3) 6
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 189
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-32 (King), 2-123 (Chase), 3-159 (Hope), 4-166 (Powell), 5-184 (Russell), 6-184 (Rutherford), 7-184 (Holder), 8-186 (Hetmyer)
DID NOT BAT: G. Motie, A. Hosein
BOWLING: Dwarshuis 4-0-36-4 (1w), Abbott 4-0-40-1, Connolly 2-0-24-1 (1w), Ellis 4-0-31-1, Zampa 4-0-30-0 (1w), Maxwell 1-0-11-0, Owen 1-0-14-1
AUSTRALIA:
M. Marsh c Hope b Joseph 24
J. Fraser-McGurk c Joseph b Holder 2
J. Inglis c Joseph b Hosein 18
C. Green c Holder b Motie 51
G. Maxwell c Rutherford b Motie 11
M. Owen c Holder b Joseph 50
C. Connolly c Hope b Holder 13
B. Dwarshuis not out 5
S. Abbott not out 5
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-4) 11
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 18.5 overs) 190
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Fraser-McGurk), 2-46 (Marsh), 3-64 (Inglis), 4-78 (Maxwell), 5-158 (Green), 6-175 (Owen), 7-181 (Connolly)
DID NOT BAT: A. Zampa, N. Ellis
BOWLING: Hosein 4-0-35-1, Holder 4-0-32-2, Russell 2-0-37-0 (1w), Joseph 3.5-0-39-2, Motie 4-0-29-2 (1w), Chase 1-0-11-0
RESULT: Australia won by three wickets.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Mitchell Owen
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2025