Mitchell Owen made a memorable international debut, scoring a half-century and taking a wicket to help Australia secure a three-wicket victory against West Indies in the opening Twenty20 cricket series match in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday. Australia successfully chased down the target of 190 runs with seven balls remaining.Owen and Cameron Green formed a crucial 80-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 40 deliveries, with Green contributing 51 runs from 26 balls. Owen joined the elite company of David Warner and Ricky Ponting as Australians who have scored a half-century on their T20 debut.West Indies, who batted first, posted 189-8 after a strong start but lost momentum in the final overs, losing four wickets for just five runs in the last nine balls. Australian fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis claimed career-best figures of 4-36.Roston Chase led the West Indies batting with 60 runs from 32 deliveries before being caught off Dwarshuis’ bowling. Chase and Shai Hope (55) had earlier built a solid 91-run partnership for the second wicket.Dwarshuis dominated the next-to-last over, taking three wickets in four deliveries. Jason Holder managed to survive the hat-trick ball but fell in the following delivery.
The victory gives Australia, who recently completed a 3-0 test series sweep, an early lead in the five-match T20 series.“Firstly happy we got the win — it was nice to contribute,” Owen said. “Just nice to be mentioned with those class players.”
