Match report: Gayle blows Australia away

Source: cricinfo.com

• West Indies 205/4 (Gayle 75*, Pollard 38) defeated Australia 131 (Bailey 63, Rampaul 3/16)

Summary:

The West Indies' two most damaging players, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard were at their destructive best as the Windies crushed Australia to advance to the final. Gayle batted through the innings to make 75 off 41 balls, while Pollard finished the work Gayle begun with a whirlwind 15-ball innings of 38. The duo particularly enjoyed the offerings of Australian spinner Xavier Doherty, and helped themselves to 48 runs from his three overs. Facing a mammoth total for victory, Australia was out of the hunt quickly, losing their top order inside the first five overs. Captain George Bailey recorded his highest T20 score of 63, but this merely limited the damage as the West Indian attack ran through the brittle Australian batting order.

The dream/nightmare scenario:

Depending on which side of the fence you are on, this was either the best or worst possible outcome. Gayle batting for all 20 overs is a recipe for disaster for opposition teams, especially when it is added to the spasmodic Pollard turning in one of the performances he made his name with. The West Indian spinners then triggering an Australian batting collapse by removing the in-form Shane Watson and Michael Hussey cheaply completed the perfect match for the West Indies. Of course in your an Australian supporter, this was the perfect storm of events which leads to long-term mental scarring.

Who's hot:

West Indies: When Gayle performs well it excites everyone, especially headline writers (I apologise for my effort). But realistically it is harder to find a West Indian player who didn't play close to their best match of the tournament except for Andre Russell, who bowled one over for 25 runs.

Australia: George Bailey went down swinging, but he was a lone hand with either the bat or ball in a dirty night for Australia.

What it means:

West Indies: It's been a long time between drinks for the West Indies, who haven't won a tournament of any kind since 2004, and not a major tournament since 1979. This level of performance is unmatchable and anything nearing it will hand them the title on Sunday.

Australia: A tournament which began so brightly finished with two pretty disappointing losses. The performance of Watson masked Australia's thin batting line-up, especially against spin bowling. The lack of top-quality spinners of their own was also exposed later in the tournament.

The Votes:

MVP: 3- C Gayle (showed why he is the most valuable T20 player), 2- K Pollard (blistering innings and 2/6), 1- S Badree (removed Australia's two W's - Watson and Warner)

Tucker Trophy: 1- S Watson (swings and roundabouts eh, only 7 runs and 0/35 off four overs), 2- D Hussey (tough call, but in first game of the tournament went for 22 runs off two overs, made second-ball duck), 3- X Doherty (1/48 off three overs, will be using the performance of Gayle and Pollard to scare his grandchildren with in years to come)