Australia and West Indies locked horns in the third ODI of the three-match series in Canberra on Tuesday (February 6) and finished in just 31 overs. Australia won the match comprehensively by eight wickets to complete their 19th whitewash in the format. This was also the first series for the World Champions since the World Cup as the Aussies stood out winning by 3-0 margin.
Several records were created and broken in the third ODI as only 186 balls were bowled in the match, the sixth-fewest in the history of the game. Moreover, this was also the shortest ever ODI played down under. Interestingly, the previous shortest ODI lasted 199 balls and was also played between Australia and West Indies in 2013 in Perth.
Xavier Bartlett was rested for the second ODI after picking up a four-fer on debut. He returned for the final match and again picked four wickets to become the first Australian bowler to pick four or more scalps in each of his first two ODIs. Overall, Bartlett is the sixth bowler to achieve this special feat after - Curtly Ambrose, Adam Hollioake, Brian Vitori, Mustafizur Rahman and Hamza Tahir.
Australia won with 259 balls remaining chasing down 87 runs in just 6.5 overs. It is the largest victory for them in the format in terms of balls remaining bettering their effort from 2004 when they had defeated USA with 254 balls in hand. Also, this defeat with 259 balls left is also the biggest loss for West Indies in ODIs in their cricketing history.
Australia have now won their last 12 ODIs, a streak that started during the World Cup. This is the joint-third longest winning streak in ODI cricket history as Australia also hold the record in this aspect having won 21 consecutive matches in the format. West Indies were skittled only for 86 runs in the third ODI, their fifth lowest in the 50-over format and second lowest against Australia.
