The opening T20I between Australia and West Indies produced a thrilling contest where the hosts managed to register a win by three wickets.
Captain Aaron Finch and wicketkeeper batter Matthew Wade shined for the home team as they gunned down the target of 146 runs in the final over. Finch received the ‘Player of the Match’ for his gritty knock of 58 (53) in Queensland.
However, it was Kyle Mayers – the West Indies opener – who grabbed the maximum eyeballs with his exquisite six off Cameron Green. Mayers scored 39 from 36 in a losing cause, but his classy six went viral on the internet.
It all happened during the fourth over when Mayers played an eye-catching shot. On the third ball, Green bowled a good length delivery, outside off at 135kph. Mayers gave himself room, opened his body up, and hit a checked lofted cover drive off the back foot.
But the timing was so good that it seemed to defy physics, as a shot like that would usually land inside the fence. Well, this hit of Mayers kept going and going until it hit a chair five rows back in the second tier for a humungous 105-metre six.
Here is the video:
WOW!
Incredible six from Mayers – over cover! #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/xBEaPYgFzN
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 5, 2022
Put to bat first, the tourists posted 145/9 in 20 overs, thanks to valuable contributions from Mayers and Odean Smith down the order. Smith scored 27 from 17 deliveries to help Caribbeans reach a competitive total. Josh Hazlewood starred with the ball for the Aussies, taking a brilliant three-wicket haul for 35 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Mitchell Starc (2/40) and Pat Cummins (2/22) also bagged a couple of scalps each.
In response, Finch led from the front, scoring a match-winning 58 with the help of six boundaries to take his side closer to victory. Though, Windies bowlers made sure it wasn’t a cakewalk for the Aussies as the contest went down to the wire where once again, Wade turned out to be a perfect finisher as his unbeaten 39 helped Australia get home with three wickets in hand and one ball to spare.
