Australia and West Indies squared off against each other in the third and final T20I of the three-match series on Tuesday in Perth. Opting to bat first, the visitors posted a whopping total of 220/6 in 20 overs with Andre Russell and Sherfane Rutherford stitching a massive 139-run partnership. The day belonged to Russell, who smashed 71 runs off 29 balls, including seven sixes and four boundaries. Amid this high-scoring innings, a hilarious incident took place which left the umpire and players in splits.
During the 4th over of West Indies’ batting, Roston Chase played a shot off Jason Behrendorff’s delivery and ran for a single. The fielder at the mid-off got the ball and made a direct hit onto the stumps. As the ball hit the stumps directly, the Australian players took a second and then appealed for a run-out.
However, Chase was way inside the crease and was declared not out by the third umpire. The reason for Australia’s appeal was that during the 2nd T20I, the hosts missed out on the chance of running out of Alzarri Joseph after Spencer Johnson did not appeal.
Talking about the match, West Indies made a horror start after winning the toss and opting to bat, losing three wickets in the opening three overs.
But Russell (71 off 29 balls) and Rutherford (unbeaten 67 off 40) led the fightback with both posting their highest T20 scores in a 139-run partnership.
Spinner Adam Zampa went for 1-65 off four overs — his most expensive ever in T20s — with Russell cracking 28 from his final over.
With pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood rested, Xavier Bartlett earned a debut after making a stellar start to his one-day career against the Caribbean side this month.
