Watson not surprised by West Indies fighting spirit

Sydney, Mar 21 (ANI): Australian skipper Shane Watson is not surprised by the fighting spirit shown by the West Indies so far in the one-day series.

Many in the Caribbean and back in Australia felt the once-mighty Windies would be easy to beat, but after Tuesday's thrilling tie in the third one-day international in St Vincent, the five-match series is locked 1-1 going into the fourth and fifth matches in St Lucia.

A century stand by man-of-the-match Michael Hussey (67) and George Bailey (59) seemed to have the tourists poised for a big first-innings total only for the Australians to lose their last six wickets for 18 runs to be dismissed for 220.

That total looked like enough when the Windies were 6-117 in their run-chase before Andre Russell (37), Carlton Baugh (33) and Darren Sammy (10) put the hosts within one run of victory with three balls remaining, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Then a disastrous mix-up between Sammy and last man Kemar Roach gifted the Aussies a run-out and a ninth ODI tie in the nation's history to leave both teams ruing missed opportunities.

"Not surprised. Not with the amount of talent they've got within their team. They seem like a really good, tight-knit unit. They're a really impressive fielding unit. The way all the guys move around the field is pretty amazing to watch," Watson said.

"West Indies is playing some really good cricket. It's going to set up a couple of really good games in St Lucia and hopefully we can get up and put a complete game together," he said. (ANI)