In the first Twenty20 International, Mitchell Owen made an incredible debut for Australia by grabbing a wicket and scoring a half-century against the West Indies. Australia won by three wickets in Jamaica because to his performance. With seven balls remaining, the visitors managed to chase down 190. After Ricky Ponting and David Warner, Owen became just the third Australian to reach a T20I half-century on debut with his 50 runs off just 27 balls.
Glenn Maxwell, a daring all-rounder, joined him, adding another feather to his already impressive international resume. In all three formats of the game, the right-hander scored enough runs to surpass the great Donald Bradman as Australia’s top run scorer, despite having a poor day. Maxwell got 11 runs with two boundaries while facing 10 balls. He now has 7004 runs in international cricket, more than Bradman’s total of 6996.
Match highlights
The Caribbean squad, batting first going into the game, scored 189 runs mainly to the innings of Shai Hope and Roston Chase. Hope, the captain, scored 55 runs off of four boundaries and three maximums while facing 39 balls. Conversely, Chase amassed 60 runs off 32 deliveries, including two maximums and nine boundaries. Ben Dwarshuis, who took four wickets while giving up 36 runs in four overs, was a major contributor to Australia’s triumph. The other bowlers who took one wicket apiece were Owen, Nathan Ellis, Cooper Connolly, and Sean Abbott.
𝙈𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙊𝙬𝙚𝙣’𝙨 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝘿𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 💫
Thrown into the fire on debut, Mitchell Owen delivered a composed 50 (27) to steer Australia through a tricky chase 🤌#WIvAUS pic.twitter.com/FMwafMx07u
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 21, 2025
After overcoming some difficult periods, Australia has made a strong comeback to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. During the opening 15 overs, their bowlers were put to the test, but they skilfully recovered to regain control. In the meantime, West Indies will be starting again after considering the mistakes that cost them the game. The series opener is now complete, and sides will remain in Kingston, Jamaica for the second Twenty20 International—Andre Russell’s last game for the maroons. The opening ball is set to be bowled at 12 AM GMT on Tuesday, July 23, in that match, which will take place at the same Sabina Park.
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