Tait, Nannes star in Australia win

Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes picked up three wickets a piece as Australia cruised to a comfortable victory in the first T20I at Hobart.

Australia beat West Indies by 38 runs in the first T20 International at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart to take a 1-0 lead.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first on a belter. They got off to the perfect start with Shane Watson and David Warner putting 58 runs on the board in the Quick start overs. The duo went on to share an 83 run openin stand which put Australia in a very comfortable position, early in the contest. But the visitors got back into the game with two wickets in quick succession, which also pulled down the scoring rate. They kept up the pressure and took wickets at regular intervals from that point, not allowing any of the batsmen to get away. It was Brad Haddin’s contribution in the Extreme Performance overs which helped push Australia to 179 for eight at the end of their 20 overs.

West Indies needed a solid start if they were to have a chance at getting to the target but Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes were on top of their game. They ripped through the top order, picking up four wickets inside the first four overs, which left the visitors tottering at 40 for four at the end of the Power Play. Things went from bad to worse as they lost the wickets of Wavell Hinds and Dwayne Smith inside the 10 over mark, leaving them no hope of getting back into the contest. Runako Morton and Denesh Ramdin shared a 73 run stand for the seventh wicket but it was too little too late. The Windies eventually finished on 141 for eight, well short of the set target.

Shaun Tait was adjudged Man of the Match for his lethal spell at the start of the second innings. He finished with three wickets for 30 runs off his four overs.