Bridgetown: Australia, the world’s top-ranked One Day International side, need to work on a number of aspects to improve ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy, captain Steve Smith said after they won a triangular series win in the West Indies.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s bowling and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade’s lower middle order batting powered Australia to a 58-run win against hosts West Indies in the final of the tournament, which also included South Africa.
“I was pleased with the way we scrapped today,” Smith told reporters after the victory in Barbados. “I am using that word a lot. But that’s been bit of a theme in this series with the kind of wickets we have been playing on.
“I am pleased we were able to get the job done.”
The Champions Trophy, featuring the top eight teams in the world, will be held next June in England and Wales where Australia have been grouped with the hosts, New Zealand and Bangladesh.
West Indies made a brisk start in their chase of 271 with a 49-run opening stand between Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher before Australia wrested back control and Smith said his bowlers need to start better with the new ball.
“We have to continue to start well with the ball,” the 27-year-old said. “In the last probably three of four series we have been up against some pretty dynamic opening batters. They have got the better of us at the start.
“We have been lucky enough to pull it back in the middle overs and bowl pretty well at the death. We will make things a lot easier for ourselves if we start really well, hit good areas and execute our plans.”
Smith was confident that Australia’s young team will only get better as they play more together.
“We still got a lot of areas to work on ... our fielding still needs a lot of work. We need to have the energy we had today in every game,” he said.
“Hopefully, as this group continues to play more together we will continue to learn each other’s games and continue to gel well as a team.”
Australia, who batted first after winning the toss, seemed destined to post a middling target until wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, batting at No. 7, rattled off an unbeaten 57 off 52 balls.
He finished his stint at the crease in style with a towering six over midwicket off the final ball as the visitors scored 270 for nine from their allotted 50 overs.
The Windies made a breezy start in reply as openers Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher put on a quick 49, with Charles scoring the lion’s share of the runs at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
But the floodgates opened after Fletcher (9) was caught at slip off paceman Josh Hazlewood, as medium-pacer Marsh collected three quick wickets to turn the match decisively and inexorably in Australia’s direction.
Marsh dismissed Darren Bravo (6) and Marlon Samuels (6) cheaply, before trapping Charles (45) plum leg-before-wicket to leave the Windies staggering at 72 for four.
Marsh finished with 3-32 off 10 miserly overs, while Hazlewood (5-50) mopped up the tail as the home team were all out for 212 after 48.4 overs.
“I haven’t really taken a wicket all series, so it was nice to get a few tonight,” all-rounder Marsh, who also made 32 with the bat, said in an on-field interview.
The result cements Australia’s number one ODI ranking, while eighth-ranked West Indies might take some consolation from reaching the final ahead of South Africa, the other team in the 10-match series.
