Mooney, King guide Australia to easy win

Beth Mooney's 55-ball 79 and Alana King's three-wicket haul helped Australia overcome a sloppy day in the field, where they put down as many as five chances, to beat hosts West Indies by 43 runs in the first T20I in St. Vincent.

Sophie Molineux chose to bat first, but Australia stumbled early to 34/2, with Georgia Voll falling to Deandra Dottin in the third over and Phoebe Litchfield to Jahzara Claxton in the sixth. Mooney and Ellyse Perry (36) then steadied the innings, building a 99-run partnership that gathered pace after a cautious start. The pair added 84 runs across seven overs after the halfway mark, with Mooney bringing up her half-century off 42 balls to make up for a sluggish start.

Dottin returned to break the stand, dismissing Perry in the 17th over. Mooney followed soon after, caught in the deep off Chinelle Henry but despite back-to-back wickets, Australia had already set themselves up for a strong total of 164/6.

West Indies made a steady start and reached 33/0 at the end of the Powerplay. It didn't help Australia's case that Hayley Matthews was dropped twice in the fifth over, but King soon made amends for a missed caught-and-bowled chance by bowling the WI captain after the Powerplay.

Qiana Joseph's 39-ball 45 kept the innings moving, aided by another reprieve by King, as West Indies got to 69/1 at the halfway mark. Shemaine Campbelle (15) got three reprieves, with King, Perry and Voll failing to hold on to the catches.

The 43-run stand for the second wicket ended when Joseph was caught by Gardner in the deep. King then trapped Campbelle lbw for 15, leaving West Indies at 76/3 when rain briefly halted play in the 13th over. On resumption, King struck immediately to account for Dottin and put Australia on track to a comfortable win.

West Indies finished on 121/6, unable to capitalise on their wicketless Powerplay or make the most of Australia's lapses in the field.

Brief Scores: Australia 164/6 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 79; Deandra Dottin 3-35) beat West Indies 121/6 (Qiana Joseph 45; Alana King 3-14) by 43 runs