Adam Voges hit his maiden ODI century
An unbeaten Adam Voges century helped Australia to complete 5-0 whitewash of West Indies with a 17-run victory in the fifth and final match at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
The 33-year-old batsman hit 112 not out to register his maiden ODI century and shared 111-run stand with Brad Haddin (43) to power Australia to 274-5 after they were put to bat.
In reply, opener Johnson Charles slammed his ODI century and Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo 45 and 33 runs respectively but the target remained beyond their approach as they were bowled out for 257 on the penultimate delivery of the innings.
Pace duo Clint McKay and Mitchell Johnson claimed three wickets apiece.
Mitchell Johnson dealt the tourists an early blow by edging opener Kieran Powell (2) to Aaron Finch in slips before Charles and Bravo started rebuilding the innings sagaciously.
The two batsmen focused on large rotation of strike and cracking the loose deliveries past rope. The 106-run partnership between the pair ended with the dismissal of Bravo, who fell to spinner Xavier Doherty.
Dwayne Bravo stay on wicket lasted just 15 minutes during which he scored 13 runs before being bowled out off Johnson.
The back-to-back blows left West Indies in tatters but Charles found another able ally in Pollard and stitched up 53 runs for fourth wicket with him before eventually being felling to McKay just after the completion of his hundred. His enterprising 121-ball vigil was laced with eight boundaries and a six.
Narsingh Deonarine (4) got caught behind off Ben Cutting, leaving West Indies wobbling at 5-186 but Pollard continued the accelerate the flow of runs on board in the company of Devon Thomas (19) to keep the hopes alive.
The two batsmen shared 42 runs for the sixth wicket before departing in the successive overs. Skipper Darren Sammy resurrected the dead contest by plundering 23 off 18 balls but his cameo wasn’t enough to make an impact on the bottom-line.
Earlier, fast bowler Tino Best began with contest with bang and removed opener Shane Watson (0) and Aaron Finch (1) to leave hosts reeling 2-2.
However, Phillip Hughes (29) and Shaun Marsh (40) started rebuilding the innings sagaciously and drove up the total 61-2 but their departure in quick-succession left the hosts reeling at 4-82 in 24 overs.
This time Adam Voges combined with Haddin to pull the hosts out of crises. Making the mockery of West Indies batting line with their superb strokeplay, they shared 111 runs for the fifth wicket before the wicketkeeper batsman fell to Kemar Roach after hitting five boundaries in his 45-ball knock.
Determined Adam Voges make alliance with James Faulkner (31) to continue the anticipation towards competitiveness and shared an unbroken 83 runs to ensure a challenging target for West Indies.
Adam Voges’ hundred was laced with 10 boundaries and two sixes.