Dubai, United Arab Emirates – West Indies Under-19s recorded a huge win by 102 runs against Australia to level the three-match One-Day Series on Tuesday.
The Windies made 267-9 off their 50 overs and then bowled out the Aussies for 165 off 39.1 overs at the Global Cricket Academy Ground 1. The series is now level 1-1 and the final match on Thursday will be the series-decider.
West Indies were led in the batting by a superb half-century from Kavem Hodge. The middle-order batsman from Dominica made 52 from 71 balls with six boundaries. He held the innings together and won the Player-of-the-Match award.
Several other batsmen got good starts. Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite followed up his half-century in the first match with a polished 31 off 29 balls. He shared an opening stand of 51 with John Campbell (33). Allrounder Kyle Mayers chipped in 30 off 32 balls while Derone Davis hit four boundaries and two sixes in a breezy 32 off 13 balls at the bottom of the innings.
The Windies were brilliant in the outfield as they restricted the Aussies. Four batsmen fell by the run out route with Hodge and Davis hitting the stumps with direct throws.
Jerome Jones, the 16-year-old, six-foot tall seamer from Barbados, was the best bowler with 3-32 from eight overs. He took all three wickets in the space of 18 balls to break the back of the innings. This triggered a collapse as Australia lost their last five wickets for 34 runs.
The Windies will have a training session on Wednesday as they prepare for Thursday’s match. First ball in the day/night match will be 2 pm (6 am Eastern Caribbean Time/5 am Jamaica Time).