Australia crush West Indies in rain-hit third T20I to sweep series

KINGSTOWN: Georgia Voll's blistering century led Australia to a comfortable 40-run victory in the rain-affected third T20I against West Indies here at the Arnos Vale Ground on Monday.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews's decision to field first backfired as the touring side piled up a mammoth total of 211/7 in their 20 overs.

Leading the way for the visitors was right-handed opener Voll, who oversaw their batting expedition until the second delivery of the 18th over and walked back after top-scoring with a 53-ball 101, studded with nine fours and six sixes, which earned her the Player of the Match award.

Besides her, captain Sophie Molineux and Nicola Carey made notable contributions, chipping in with 25 and 24 not out, respectively. The duo also shared a crucial 32-run partnership for the seventh wicket, which bolstered Australia's total at the backend.

Skipper Matthews was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies, taking three wickets for just 29 runs in her four overs, followed by Jahzara Claxton with two, while Zaida James and Deandra Dottin could claim one apiece.

Set to chase a daunting 212-run target to avoid the whitewash defeat, the home side got off to a disastrous start to the pursuit as they lost three wickets in the batting powerplay with just 33 runs on the board.

Following the early stutter, Dottin joined skipper Matthews in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to add an unbeaten 28-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which took West Indies' total to 61/3 at the halfway mark.

During the drinks break after 10 overs, it began to rain here, and no further action was possible despite valiant efforts from the ground staff. The hosts were found 40 runs short as per the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.