PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (Reuters) - Australia dismissed West Indies for 219 yesterday to win the fourth one-day international by 67 runs and take an unassailable lead in the seven-match series.
Accurate bowling and athletic fielding by the world champions proved too much for the West Indies’ batsmen who fell well short of their target of 287.
Opener Chris Gayle and Ricardo Powell struggled to cope with the early onslaught of Australia pacemen Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.
Powell (8) played and missed several times before Australia skipper Ricky Ponting took a fine diving catch on the leg side from a lively Gillespie delivery.
The Australia fast bowlers obtained ample bounce from the pitch and Wavell Hinds (3) took two deliveries on the helmet before succumbing lbw to Lee.
Glenn McGrath joined the attack and trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan LBW when the stylish right-hander had scored just 16.
West Indies skipper Brian Lara played some flowing drives and cuts to give the innings some stability. He forged a promising 69-run partnership with Chris Gayle, but the intimidating Australian target forced him to play a high-risk game.
Lara had scored 40 when his attempt to cut an Andy Symonds delivery was caught by Matthew Hayden at short third man.
Gayle scored a string of fine boundaries and was choosing his shots less rashly than in the first three games of the series.
Nevertheless, medium pace bowler Ian Harvey trapped Gayle
(84) lbw when the opener tried to play across the line of the ball.
Harvey captured a second wicket when Hogg took an excellent low catch from Marlon Samuels (27) and the West Indies lower order collapsed.
A classy 84 by Adam Gilchrist and an unbeaten 55 by young batsman Michael Clarke had earlier taken the tourists to an impressive 286 for five.