West Indies vs Australia: Fabian Allen’s sheer presence of mind gets rid of Aaron Finch

Fabian Allen had an excellent day in West Indies’ six-wicket win over Australia in the third T20I at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia. He picked up the crucial wicket of Mitchell Marsh, who was in good form, having scored half-centuries in the two T20Is of the five-match series. The left-arm spinner conceded only 26 runs at 6.50 from his quota of four overs.

Allen also took an excellent catch to get rid of Aaron Finch. Hayden Walsh Jr tossed one up outside the off-stump and Finch tried to clear the fence downtown for a six. But he couldn’t get the desired timing and the ball went straight up in the air.

Fabian Allen takes a blinder

Dwayne Bravo got to the ball, but he fumbled and couldn’t latch on to the rather simple-looking catch. The ball popped out of his hand and was set to go to ground. However, Allen made a full-stretch dive to catch hold of the ball.

Here’s the video:

Still can't get over this 😮

📺 WATCH: #WIvAUS https://t.co/sOyWx8JbnJ
📝 BLOG: https://t.co/UyzXmx1x5b
📱 MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/h46JiuKHIB pic.twitter.com/U18dBoSIdY

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) July 13, 2021

With the win, the Caribbean team also sealed the fate of the series. Chris Gayle became the Player of the Match for his blistering 38-ball 67. After the game, Nicholas Pooran, the Caribbean skipper, was over the moon. He termed Gayle the ‘greatest T20 batsman’ and also had words of praises for Kieron Pollard, who has been warming the bench due to a niggle.

“It was a top game. We kept asking for improvement. Today we executed our plans both with bat and ball. He (Gayle) is the greatest T20 batsman to play this game, really pleased for him. I didn’t dream (of starting captaincy with three straight wins) but this is a lovely bunch of guys. Also Polly (Pollard) and our coach,” Pooran said after the match.

He (Pollard) is my mentor and has been someone who has always wanted me to do well. He is always helping me out. The spinners have been doing a lot of work on their bowling and it’s paying off. It’s also important to plan with the wind factor.

“Hitting against it isn’t easy. We want to achieve consistency. Three games is nothing, we should try to win all five games if we can. There will be opportunities for other guys too,” he added.