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Rampant Aussies cruise to victory over West Indies

Fifth one-day international, Melbourne:
Australia 324-5 (50 ovs) beat West Indies 199 (36.5 ovs) by 125 runs
Match scorecard


Australia's James Hopes
Hopes starred for Australia with a half century and a wicket

Australia completed a 4-0 series win over the West Indies with a 125-run win in the final one-dayer in Melbourne.

The home side batted solidly with half centuries from Shane Watson (51), Ricky Ponting (61) and James Hopes (57 not out) helping them to 324-5 in 50 overs.

The West Indies made a bad start, losing Travis Dowlin for a duck.

Kieron Pollard hit 45 and there was a late flurry by Darren Sammy and Nikita Miller but the visitors fell well short on 199 in 36.5 overs.

The win gave Australia a 4-0 series triumph, after game three in Sydney was washed out, to go with earlier 2-0 and 3-0 Test series wins over the Windies and Pakistan respectively as well as the 5-0 one-day series whitewash over Pakistan in January.

It means that as long as Australia do not lose either of their upcoming two Twenty20 internationals against West Indies, they will have gone through the summer unbeaten for the first time since 2000/01.

In front of just 15,538 fans - the lowest-ever crowd for a one-day match between the two sides at the MCG, the outclassed visitors somehow managed to drop five catches during the Australia innings.

It gave chances to openers Brad Haddin (twice in the fourth over) as well as Watson, Ponting and Hopes and the home side took full advantage.

Haddin and Watson put on 81 for the first wicket in just 14 overs before Haddin was bowled by Pollard.

606: DEBATE
slowie

Ponting, who was dropped on 47, and Michael Clarke then put on a 104-run stand off just 101 balls for the third wicket before Ponting was caught behind for 62 off the first ball of Pollard's second spell.

And then after Clarke (47 off 58 balls) and Cameron White (22 off 33 balls) departed, man of the match Hopes (57 not out off 26 balls) and Adam Voges (45no off 36 balls) continued to pile on the misery.

Wavell Hinds dropped Hopes on 24 and the Australian went on to smash the fifth-fastest one-day half-century ever by an Australian player.

After Dowlin's early departure to Doug Bollinger in the first over, Bollinger then claimed Windies skipper Chris Gayle in his next over - the ball after Gayle had just thumped him for two successive sixes.

Once Gayle (14 off five balls) again departed quickly, there was a sense of inevitability about another Windies' batting collapse as only Pollard knuckled down.

But Steven Smith - on his one-day international debut - ended his stay with a fine running catch on the boundary at deep square off the bowling of Hopes in the 18th over.



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see also
Clinical Aussies seal series win
14 Feb 10 |  Cricket
Sydney rain ruins Windies' hopes
12 Feb 10 |  Cricket
Australia too strong for Windies
09 Feb 10 |  Cricket
Australia thrash Windies in ODI
07 Feb 10 |  Cricket
West Indies in Australia 2009-10
08 Dec 09 |  Cricket


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