Bowlers, Wade deliver series win for depleted Australia

Australia 153 for 4 (Wade 51*, Carey 35) beat West Indies 152 (Lewis 55*, Starc 3-43) by six wickets

Barbados: An unbeaten half-century from Matthew Wade steered the tourists to an emphatic six-wicket triumph ove West Indies in Bridgetown on Monday.

Four commendable contributions with the bat helped Australia chase down a target of 153 to win with ease.

After losing Moises Henriques (1) and Josh Philippe (10) cheaply, Alex Carey took matters into his own hands and produced a fine captain's knock of 35 runs from 50 balls.

Carey combined well with Mitchell Marsh, who smashed 29 off 21 including three sixes, to put Australia well on track for victory.

West Indies had a sniff when Marsh was caught off a Sheldon Cottrell (1/34) bouncer in the 14th over, but the breakthrough did little to stop the visitors in their tracks.

Matthew Wade came in at No.5 and immediately went to work, slashing Cottrell for four off his second ball.

Wade's first boundary set the tone for the rest of his innings as he paved his way to an 11th ODI fifty.

Hayden Walsh Jr (1/41) trapped Carey lbw at the start of the 21st over but that would be Australia's last wicket loss for the match.

Ashton Agar was the man to accompany Wade at the end of Australia's successful chase, hitting a welcome 19* off 33, including three boundaries.

Earlier, West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first at Kensington Oval, recording a sub par total of 152.

The hosts got off to a steady start until Evin Lewis retired on 5* under concussion protocols after top-edging the ball into his helmet.

Lewis would return later in the innings to fabricate a well-deserved half-century, the 10th of his ODI career.

Australia took wickets at regular intervals with all five bowlers chipping in. Mitchell Starc cashed in again taking a game-high three wickets for 43 runs off 9.1 overs.

Josh Hazlewood (2/18), Ashton Agar (2/31), and Adam Zampa (2/29) were also impressive, bagging two wickets each.

After complimenting his tidy bowling figures, Agar was awarded Player of the Match with an important 19* from 33 balls with the bat.

Starc was named Player of the Series courtesy of his 11 wickets across the three-match affair with an average of 10.63.