Australia VS West Indies: Aaron Finch and Mathew Wade are the two stars in the hosts' victory in a low-scoring thriller

A half-century from skipper Aaron Finch (58) and a valuable knock lower down the order from Matthew Wade (39 off 29 balls) ensured the hosts won a match that could have gone either way. 

Chasing a total of 146, the hosts looked in trouble at one point – they were 58-5 in 7.5 overs and staring down the barrel of defeat. 

David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, two batsmen whose form was crucial to their World Cup win in 2021, both had days to forget. 

Warner holed out to Brandon King off the bowling of Sheldon Cottrell, and the left-arm pacer also got rid of Marsh, this time courtesy of a catch from wicketkeeper Johnson Charles. 

Cameron Green, who had looked so impressive during the tour to India recently, was bowled by Alzarri Joseph. 

And it was a knock from the out-of-form Finch – batting in the unfamiliar position of number four – which ensured that Australia stayed in the hunt. 

However, their hopes were dealt a severe blow because both of their hard-hitting all-rounders, Tim David and Glenn Maxwell, were out for ducks. 

David holed out to Odean Smith off Jason Holder's bowling, whereas Yannic Cariah got Maxwell to give a simple catch to Pooran. 

This was where the rebuild from Finch and Wade came into play. The two played smartly, knowing that the asking rate wasn't too high given the low nature of the target. 

Finch would eventually perish, too, as did Pat Cummins (4) and Mitchell Starc (6). But in the end, Australia got home with one ball to spare. 

After the match, Finch – also awarded the Man of the Match – admitted that his side was relieved to get over the line. 

"Both teams if they are honest, were sloppy. We were lucky to get across the line," Finch said at the presentation. 

It did not help matters for the West Indies that they dropped two key catches in the final over – catches that, if they had taken, could well have seen the match end differently. 

"Catches win matches. Maybe if we had taken the catch in the last over, we could've won," Pooran said afterwards. 

However, a more unkind interpretation was that the West Indies did not deserve to win. The middle order did not fire, whereas their top scorer was Kyle Mayers, whose 39 runs came off 36 balls – hardly ideal for an opener in this format. 

Beyond that, the batting generally struggled. Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell got two and seven, respectively. It is telling that their second-highest scorer was Odean Smith, with 27. 

By the time their innings came to an end, it always seemed likely they would end up on the losing side – even though Australia themselves had their poor moments in the second innings. 

The second and final T20I takes place on Friday (October 7) in Brisbane.