Secret weapon destroys 'panicked' Aussies in St Lucia

Andre Russell believes Obed McCoy can be the West Indies' secret weapon heading into this year's T20 World Cup.

The little-known fast bowler from the tiny island of Saint Vincent followed Russell's breathtaking six-hitting feats to down Australia in a comeback 18-run victory in the T20 series-opener in St Lucia.

McCoy had a remarkable night that saw him collect a wicket with his first delivery, go on to concede 17 runs from the following five balls, take a contender for catch of the series before finally claiming the match-sealing wicket that sparked frenzied celebrations.

After playing four games for the Windies back in 2018 and 2019, the left-armer has come into his own this year in taking 17 T20I wickets at 15, going at only 7.08 per over in games against Sri Lanka, South African and now Australia.

Noted for his back-of-the-hand slower balls, McCoy deceived Ashton Agar with one to induce a leading edge which he caught in an extraordinary somersaulting catch.

Russell, who bashed five sixes in a maiden T20I half-century, believes bowlers like McCoy who are fresh into international cricket can often have immediate success.

"He's a little secret weapon for us," Russell told cricket.com.au post-match.

"Sometimes when playing in world cricket, the first two years or couple of months on the scene you're going to be dangerous.

"No one really knows him. The back-of-the-hand slower ball and then the variations – I hope it can continue to work for us.

"I know Australia is going to go back and do their homework. But whatever he bowls, they still have to play it.

"I think it's a good advantage … He's been working very hard and I think this is his time to shine."

McCoy exploited the conditions cleverly, beating Josh Philippe for pace and bounce with his first ball of the series before deceiving both Agar and Mitchell Starc with slower balls in an epic collapse of 7-38.

"Normally on that surface the ball has nice bounce and carry but I was just trying to mix up my pace as much as I can," McCoy told the host broadcaster.

"I noticed the spinners were getting a bit of turn so I thought my slower balls would grip."

His final wicket of Josh Hazlewood prompted jubilant scenes.

Image Id: E017255622AC4543A358240295672A1F Image Caption: McCoy celebrates one of his four wickets // Getty

"We honestly couldn't hold it back," said Russell. "It's only the first game of the series, (but) winning a comeback game like that, we have to celebrate."

Captain Aaron Finch said Australia "panicked" after a strong start to their run chase, suggesting "just a bit of game smarts would have got us over the line".

"We just needed somebody to take it upon themselves and get right through to the end," he said.

"I think we needed under four (runs) an over for the majority of that last bit, so it's very disappointing.

"We sort of panicked a little bit.

"We've been working on trying to be a little more aggressive in the middle overs, but maybe we just needed to rein it in today and have some more smarts.

"There's no excuses for our batting display there."

Hazlewood, who returned career-best T20I figures of 4-12 and claimed the prized scalp of Russell, added: "I think it was pretty obvious where we need to fix up.

"A few of those guys (middle-order batters) will have a think over the next 24 hours and come back out tomorrow and put on a polished performance hopefully.

"I think at times potentially (they were too aggressive), we probably had more batters than what we were used to.

"The start we got with the bat paved the way to knock it around, play a with a bit of cricket smarts, which we obviously didn't do."

The Windies’ win was all the more impressive given the absence of skipper Kieron Pollard, who Russell believes will remain sidelined with a hamstring concern for Sunday morning’s (AEST) second T20I.

Qantas Tour of the West Indies 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.

West Indies T20 squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr

T20 series
(all matches at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia)

First T20: West Indies won by 18 runs

Second T20: July 11, 9.30am AEST (July 10, 7.30pm local)

Third T20: July 13, 9.30am AEST (July 12, 7.30pm local)

Fourth T20: July 15, 9.30am AEST (July 14, 7.30pm local)

Fifth T20: July 17, 9.30am AEST (July 16, 7.30pm local)

ODI series
(all matches at Kensington Oval, Barbados)

First ODI (D/N): July 21, 4.30am AEST (July 20, 2.30pm local)

Second ODI (D/N): July 23, 4.30am AEST (July 22, 2.30pm local)

Third ODI (D/N): July 25, 4.30am AEST (July 24, 2.30pm local)

* Details of five-match T20 tour of Bangladesh are yet to be announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Tours are subject to agreement on bio-security arrangements and relevant government approvals.