Australia got off to a positive start in the chase as Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja found the ropes regularly, capitalising on some poor deliveries that were on offer. However, the hosts came back strongly as they sent back the openers in successive overs. A leading edge brought about Finch's downfall, giving Carlos Brathwaite a wicket while debutant Shannon Gabriel, who replaced Jerome Taylor, sent back Khawaja (caught-behind).
Despite the quick wickets, Australia managed to keep abreast with the scoring rate as Steven Smith and George Bailey forged a positive partnership. The West Indian bowlers erred in their line and lengths and were made to pay by the third-wicket pair, which raised a half-century stand. To make matters worse, a hamstring injury forced skipper Jason Holder to leave the field after bowling just two overs. Australia though lost a wicket against the run of play when Bailey got a leading edge off a Benn delivery that spun away sharply, ending a 64-run partnership.
Having ended a threatening partnership, West Indies would have hoped to pick up one or two more wickets to put Australia under further pressure. However, that wasn't the case as Smith got into damage-control mode and had Mitchell Marsh for company as they kept the hosts at bay by bringing up the second fifty-plus partnership of the innings. Smith was watchful, dealing mostly in singles, as he decided to play the anchor's role while Marsh scored some timely boundaries.
The Australian skipper took 73 deliveries for his third fifty-plus score of the series while Marsh also registered a half-century, even as the required rate was on the rise. Since Marsh's streaky four off Brathwaite off the opening delivery of the 29th over, Australia were without a boundary for as many as 10.3 overs and managed only 46 runs during that phase. The duo, however, made up for the period of drought with a couple of fours that brought the equation down to 73 off the last 10 overs.
For the second time in the game, a century stand was raised by the fourth-wicket pair. However, the Australian partnership for the said wicket came to an end in an abrupt fashion as Smith, looking for a quick second, failed to out-run an accurate throw from Darren Bravo to the bowler Sulieman Benn. The equation for Australia was 66 off nine overs before Smith's dismissal and it came down to 41 off five overs when Maxwell managed a couple of much-needed fours off Gabriel. And then the big hits followed.
A reverse-sweep off Narine for a six in the 46th over, Maxwell cleared the ropes for the first time before he took the attack to Brathwaite in the following over. A four, six and a four, off consecutive deliveries from Maxwell's bat meant that Australia needed only 13 off the last three overs. It came down to three off the last two overs as the hard-hitting allrounder hit Narine for his fifth four, in an over that yielded 10 runs. The remaining three runs were scored without a sweat as Australia won with eight deliveries to spare.
Earlier, Australia made early inroads after choosing to bowl first. Johnson Charles who took strike sporting a pair of shades, lasted only four deliveries as he got an outside edge off Starc in the opening over, that was snapped up by Smith, to depart without scoring. The first over was a wicket-maiden while Josh Hazlewood followed it up with another maiden as the new-ball bowlers stuck to tight lines, keeping the scoring rate in check. Just when the batsmen got going with a few boundaries, a terrific, one-handed catch by the skipper at first slip ended Bravo's stay, giving Hazlewood a wicket. On a pitch that offered the quick bowlers pace and bounce in equal measure, Starc made good use of it to pick up his second wicket when he got rid of Andre Fletcher with a delivery that kicked off from a length. Hazlewood then bowled two more maidens in a spell that included 17 dot deliveries, to add more pressure on the West Indian batsmen.
Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin began the rebuilding process and the former had a couple of reprieves - a review for caught-behind going against Australia and Matthew Wade putting down a tough chance. The partnership, meanwhile, grew from strength to strength as Ramdin and Samuels achieved a few landmarks. While Ramdin became the first West Indian wicketkeeper to register 2000 ODI runs, Samuels became the 10th West Indian to collect 5000 runs in ODIs. When the partnership reached 150, in the 38th over, the pair registered the highest fourth-wicket stand for West Indies against Australia, surpassing the 149-run association between Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd in the 1975 World Cup final, exactly 31 years ago.
West Indies crossed 200 in the 41st over soon after which Ramdin clubbed two back-to-back sixes off Starc and quickly entered the 90s. However the left-arm pacer denied the wicketkeeper-batsman a three-figure score as Ramdin, trying to play across the line, was bowled and his wicket ended a superb partnership worth 192. Samuels went on to register his 10th ODI ton, and even as he was finding the boundaries at will, he saw Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder falling in quick succession. He hit a six off the penultimate delivery, fell off the final ball, giving Faulkner his second wicket as West Indies finished with a touch above 280, which wasn't quite enough in the end.
Brief scores: West Indies 282/8 in 50 overs (Marlon Samuels 125, Denesh Ramdin 91; Mitchell Starc 3-51, James Faulkner 2-56) lost to Australia 283/4 in 48.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 79*, Steven Smith 78, Glenn Maxwell 46*; Sulieman Benn 1-47) by 6 wickets.
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