Australia beat West Indies in their fastest-ever ODI cricket run chase, Xavier Bartlett takes four wickets

Australia dismantled the West Indies with their fastest-ever run chase in their already glittering ODI history, wrapping up a 3-0 one-day international series victory in emphatic style.

Despite going into this match with a series victory already sealed, nobody could have expected the world champions to demolish the West Indies in this fashion.

After Australia bowled West Indies out for just 86 runs, Australia knocked off the total inside just seven overs, losing two wickets along the way and securing an eight-wicket victory.

The West Indies made it to 71-4, but then collapsed, losing a further six wickets for just 15 runs in 27 balls.

It took the world champions just 186 balls of the 600 available in Canberra to come out on top, the sixth-fewest for any completed men's ODI and the fewest-ever for an ODI hosted by Australia (excluding overs-reduced matches).

The previous shortest completed ODI in Australia lasted 199 balls, also played between Australia and West Indies, in 2013 in Perth.

Xavier Bartlett achieved another four-wicket haul with figures of 4-21, and became the first Australian to take four or more wickets in each of their first two ODIs after his 4-17 on his debut in Melbourne. It was even more remarkable considering the player of the series had not played any 50-over cricket since September 2022.

Big-hitting Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed three sixes in his 18-ball 41, whilst Josh Inglis’ 35* came from just 16 balls.

West Indian bowler Matthew Forde went for 40 runs from just two overs, whilst Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph and Oshane Thomas gave away the remaining runs.

This win extends Australia’s ODI consecutive wins to 12, a streak that began during their victorious World Cup campaign.

The defeat by 259 balls is the biggest for West Indies in men's ODIs and they remain without an ODI win against Australia down under for 22 consecutive games, their last win coming way back in January 1997.

The teams came into these ODI matches on the back of a two Test series that was drawn 1-1, as West Indies historically beat the Aussies Down Under for the first time since 1997.

These were promising signs for the revival of West Indies Test cricket, beating the world Test champions on their own patch, however, any revival of their 50-over form remains to be seen after this heavy defeat.

The 2023 Cricket World Cup was the first to not include former champions West Indies, who failed to qualify after defeat to Scotland.

As we look ahead to this summer’s T20 World Cup taking place in West Indies and the USA, the Windies will be looking to replicate the form that saw them beat England 3-2 in the T20 series on home soil.

Australia and West Indies embark on a three-game T20 series, which kicks off on Friday in Hobart live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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