WI-W vs AUS-W, 3rd ODI: King, Litchfield secure 3-0 sweep for Australia

Match Overview 

Alana King’s five-wicket haul secured a dominant nine-wicket win for Australia over West Indies in the third ODI in St Kitts on Thursday (April 2). With that, they completed a 3-0 sweep in the ODI series, having blanked the hosts by the same margin in the preceding T20I series.

King’s exceptional 5 for 19, her second-best ODI performance after the 7 for 18 against South Africa in the ODI World Cup last year, meant that West Indies tumbled out for a paltry 136 in 35.4 overs despite a steady start from the rejigged opening pair of Hayley Matthews (34 off 48) and Deandra Dottin (22 off 19).

At 49 for 1 in the powerplay, West Indies seemed in control of the proceedings. But they suffered a staggering collapse after Dottin edged Lucy Hamilton to slip, losing all their wickets for just 98 more runs.

King got into the act with Matthews’ wicket, as she had her caught at cover and then sent Jannillea Glasgow only two balls later, thanks to a diving catch at point from Georgia Wareham. Chinelle Henry and Realeanna Grimmond steadied the wobbly innings briefly with a 37-run stand for the sixth-wicket, but Grimmond fell to King in the 27th over, and the innings finished in the blink of an eye from there, with the lower order failing to show any fight.

King had Afy Fletcher caught in the slip and Karishma Ramharack at long-on to complete her five-wicket haul. Henry stood unbeaten on 42, eventually running out of support at the other end.

In response, Australia raced to 50 in as many balls, with Phoebe Litchfield (unbeaten 68 off 56) and Georgia Voll (23 off 22) dominating the proceedings with the bat. Voll was the lone batter to be dismissed, holing out to deep midwicket immediately after completing the 50-run opening stand with Litchfield.

Litchfield, who slammed eight fours and a six in her knock, then joined hands with No. 3 Ellyse Perry (unbeaten 33 off 40), with the duo knocking off the remaining 87 runs to run away with the game with a whopping 182 balls - West Indies' heaviest ODI loss at home in terms of balls remaining - and nine wickets to spare. 

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the match

Alana King

Australia leg-spinner Alana King was at her wily best against West Indies in the third ODI. She scalped five wickets for just 19 runs in her full quota, registering her second-best career performance in the format. 

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Tahlia McGrath (Stand-in, Australia Women)

"A really clinical way to finish the season. Kingy outstanding with the ball and Pheebs unbelievable with the bat. We pride ourselves on our fielding and I thought today we took some really good catches and were really clean. That was awesome today. It's been an awesome tour and we leave here very happy."

Losing Team Captain, Hayley Matthews (West Indies Women)

"We always knew it was going to be a tough assignment. When we look at the series and how our spinners went, that's one area we can be proud of. There's a clear skill gap between the two teams but there's things we can work on. It's great for our younger players to get the chance to play against great players."