WI Vs AUS, 5th T20I: Shai Hope Blames Batting Collapses After Australia Series Sweep

Shai Hope believes West Indies’ batting performances were the main cause for their humbling T20I series defeat to Australia.

The visitors won the fifth and final match by three wickets to complete a series sweep, following on from their 3-0 defeat in the Test series.

West Indies got off to a poor start in their innings on Monday, losing three wickets for 32 runs before being bowled out for 170. It was a similar story in the fourth match when they were 67-4 prior to posting a total of 205.

However, it was the other way around in the opening three games. The hosts were 123-1 in the opening match before managing just 189 in the innings, while they were 63-0 and 125-0 in the following two games before middle-order collapses.

Hope pointed to their batting inconsistencies as a reason for their first-ever 5-0 series whitewash in the format.

“I just didn't think we put together a proper batting display,” Hope said at the post-match presentation.

“We either started well and finished poorly or the other way around. When you're playing against quality opposition like Australia, you've got to put things together for a more complete game.

“As a batting group, we didn't really give ourselves the best chance to put a big score on the board consistently. And that's probably where we fell short. We've always been one step behind the eight ball.”

This was Australia’s first 5-0 sweep in a T20I series, while they are just the second team to complete a series whitewash in a five-match bilateral series featuring full-member teams (India in 2020 against New Zealand).

“I didn't expect 5-0 at the start of the series, but we played some great cricket,” said captain Mitchell Marsh.

“It was something we spoke about after the fourth game. We knew no Australian team had completed a clean sweep. We've had guys come in and play different roles for us. We spoke pre-tour about having flexibility and fluidity as a group.

“The way T20 is going teams just keep going now and it's exciting and hopefully we can continue our power hitting.”