West Indies bowler Hayden Walsh Jr applied different tactics to bowl to Australia all-rounder Cameron Green in the first ODI between the teams. The first match of the three-match series between the teams took place at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.
Australia clinched the first match comfortably with 8 wickets in hand, credit to the valiant effort by Cameron Green and Steve Smith with the bat. The duo stiched a valiant partnership between them and chased the target with ease to take 1-0 lead in the series.
As they were going great guns in the partnership, West Indies bowler Hayden Walsh Jr tried to do something different in the hope of getting the wicket. During the 4th ball of the 37th over, the leg-spinner came up with interesting tactics but didn’t work as Cameron Green looked comfortable at the crease.
Hayden Walsh Jr bowled a delivery from the line of the umpire. He delivered the ball well behind the stumps and landed in on the length on off-stump. Cameron Green presses back and cuts it towards the backward point for a no-run. The video of the incident went viral on the internet.
Watch: Hayden Walsh bowls bizarre delivery
Walsh tries the long bowl! #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/Kc2rQ9Zg6U
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 2, 2024
Coming to the match, Australia set themselves a target of 232 runs to chase after bundling out West Indies for 231 runs. They lost Travis Head early for 4 runs but after that, Jos Inglis (65) slammed a vital half-century and made sure that he took his team off to a good start in the chase.
Cameron Green supported him well as the duo added 79 runs for the second wicket. But the real blitz came from the partnership between Green and Steve Smith. They took West Indies bowlers to cleaners and smashed them all over the park, making sure they outplayed the opposition out of the game.
Cameron ended with the innings of unbeaten 77 runs off 104 balls to go with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Whereas Steve Smith slammed an unbeaten run a ball 79 with the help of 8 fours. The duo added 149 runs for the second wicket and made sure that they took their team home with over 10 overs to spare.
For West Indies, bowlers couldn’t get going at all. Matthew Forde and Gudakesh Motie picked one wicket each. Hayden Walsh Jr was economical as he gave away 41 runs in the 7.1 overs he bowled. The leg-spinner had an economy of 5.5.
Cameron Green picks 2 wickets with the ball against West Indies
Not only with the bat, Cameron Green was exceptional with the ball in the first ODI against West Indies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. The all-rounder bowled impeccable lines and lengths and picked two wickets in the 8 overs that he bowled in the match.
Cameron Green removed Kavem Hodge and Romario Shepherd to return with the figures of 2/40. The star of the ball for Australia was Xavier Bartlett. The pacer set the stage on fire in his debut game and helped his team bundle out the opposition for a low total.
Xavier Bartlett claimed four wickets and won Man of the Match in his first game for Australia. While talking about his performance, he stated: “Couldn’t ask for much more, lucky it hit the stumps (on his first wicket). Been working on it for a few years, built up the courage to bowl it and lucky it came off (on the outswinger).”
The second ODI between Australia and West Indies will be played on Sunday (4th February).
