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Another drop. This time it's Kyle Mayers who drops this as Starc gets a reprieve. You cannot afford these at this level in such a close game. 

AUS won by 3 wickets

What a thriller of a game we have had here at the Carrara Oval, and at the end of the night, it was the hosts Australia who held their nerves to win the contest by 3 wickets with a ball to spare. The West Indies have plenty of positives to take away from this game, but they dropped catches at the wrong time and paid the price for it. 

Chasing a paltry target of 146, Australia started off well with David Warner and Cameron Green showing intent. They both scored 14 each. Then Australia lost their way in the middle overs and they were in big trouble at 58/5 with Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, and Tim David getting out for low scores. But it was skipper Aaron Finch who led from the front batting at Number 4 and returned to form with his 58 off 53 balls guiding the chase. Giving him good company was the experienced campaigner Matthew Wade who is the finisher of the Australian Cricket Team. He remained unbeaten on 39 off 29 balls. Mitchell Starc hit the winning runs as Australia barely got over the line. 

The West Indies bowlers tried their best with a par total to defend. Alzarri Joseph was the pick of the bowlers with 2-17 in 4 overs. Yannic Cariah was excellent on debut with 1-15 in 4 overs. Odean Smith was good with his 1-19 in 3 overs. Sheldon Cottrell picked up a couple of wickets but went for plenty of runs here as he went for 48. A wicket for Jason Holder as well. Only 8 extras were given by West Indies to Australia. The West Indies tried their hearts out, but in the end, the dropped catches in the final over came back to haunt them.  

Earlier in the game, West Indies got off to a flyer inside the powerplay after they were invited to bat first by Aaron Finch. Kyle Mayers was the aggressor as he came out all guns blazing with the visitors putting up 53 runs for the loss of two wickets. But the West Indies lost their way in the middle overs. Kyle Mayers top scored with 39 off 36 balls. Brandon King (12 off 9), Raymon Reifer (19 off 23), and Jason Holder (13 off 7) got into double figures. It was Odean Smith’s cameo of 27 off 17 balls and Australia giving away 15 extras that took the visitors to 145/9 in 20 overs.

From Australia’s point of view, Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with 3-35 in 4 overs with his final over being taken to the cleaners. Pat Cummins was good in his 2-22 off 4 overs. Mitchell Starc looked rusty after being out of action for a few weeks. He picked up a couple of wickets but was hit for 40 runs in his 4-over spell. Cameron Green was amongst the wickets as he picked up a wicket off his 2 overs for 16 runs. Adam Zampa went wicketless but went for just 21 runs in 4 overs. Glenn Maxwell bowled 2 overs for just 8 runs.  

So, a win for Australia over West Indies by 3 wickets with a ball to spare to take a 1-0 lead in this 2-match series. Stick around for the post-match presentation ceremony that comes your way soon.   

Nicholas Pooran | West Indies Captain: "The important moments in the game, we did not capitalize on. Aaron Finch and Matthew Wade batted really well. As we know catches win matches, and we dropped a couple of crucial ones out there. But we accept the faults and hope to improve on it in the future."

Aaron Finch (Australia Captain):  "Yes, it was sloppy and kept tight and we are happy to get over the line. We started well and then lost our way in the end. They bowled well and we came back well to win the game. The game was tight and we won. I think to bat at 4 was a new challenge for me and I am happy to do well. I got hit on the head and came back to adjust ourselves. The plan was to see and continue Green at the top. World Cup is coming and we need to be flexible with our line-up. So, we may swap in the next game, you never know. I am happy that we won and there are areas we need to work on and get better ahead of our next game on Friday."  

That's it from this game. Australia have taken a 1-0 lead in this 2-match T20I series and both teams will battle it out on Friday when the second T20I will take place at the Gabba in Brisbane. Do join us for that clash and for all other fixtures around the globe in our network across the format. For now, this is Ayan Chatterjee signing off on behalf of my esteemed co-commentator Anirudh Modi and our ever-reliable scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer. Stay safe, happy, and cool, and until next time, goodbye and CHEERS from us all!