A BOWLING masterclass from the Australians has helped them win their third One Day International against the West Indies by eight wickets to take the three-match series 2-0.

It was the Australian bowlers who led the way, which made the job for the batters that much easier.

In conditions that could not be more vastly different from only 48 hours prior, it did not take too long for the Aussies to strike the first blow of the innings. Kim Garth got Zaida James to nick it to Alyssa Healy in the fourth over for the first wicket of the day.

Garth struck again four overs later to remove Hayley Matthews, who was just starting to get really settled at the crease. First change bowler Annabel Sutherland made it three wickets with one of the catches of the summer, albeit a bit of a controversial one, and Stafanie Taylor was on her way.

Alana King made it four wickets down the very next over, and the West Indies were starting to look in real trouble. Sutherland continued the wicket taking over trend the following over with two wickets inside the over, and suddenly the West Indies were already six down barely a quarter of the way into their innings.

Rashada Williams and Shabika Gajnabi tried to put together a bit of a tail end resistance, but eventually even it came to an end when King trapped the cramping Gajnabi in front.

That would not be the end of King’s involvement with wickets, as she took a well judged catch backing back with the flight of the ball to finally dismiss Williams and give Georgia Wareham her first wicket of the day.

The West Indies did reach the 100-run mark, which was not a given for a long time, before Tahlia McGrath joined in on the wicket taking party and brought what was starting to become quite the handy partnership to a close.

With the end in sight, it was only three balls later before McGrath had her second wicket within the over and the West Indies were all out for 103 in the 32nd over.

Williams (25) and Matthews (23) had been the top scorers for the West Indies, but Cherry-Ann Fraser (19) was the only other West Indian batter to make a double figure score.

In the end all bar one Australian bowler that was used picked up a wicket. Sutherland finished with three, while Garth, King and McGrath all finished with two.

The Australians made a pretty confident looking start to their chase, with Phoebe Litchfield in particular confidently finding the gaps in the field and ticking the scoreboard over. Healy then followed her opening partner’s lead and started to find plenty of the gaps herself, and things were looking pretty good for those in green and gold.

Some at-times comical fielding errors from the West Indies did not help the tourists’ cause at all, but the Australians were looking more and more settled at the crease.

The Australian openers were cruising along so nicely they reached halfway to the final target in just over eight overs.

It took Healy finally skying one too many in a row for the partnership to come to an end, with a catch from Fraser off the bowling off Shamilia Connell bringing the Australian captain undone.

The West Indies also managed to pick up a second wicket when Litchfield skied one to James at mid wicket off Aaliyah Alleyne‘s bowling, but things were still looking strong for those in green and gold.

That was ultimately the case as Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney helped guide the Australians home with a 43-run partnership off 35 balls to reach the target halfway through the 16th over. Perry emphatically finished off the innings with a six.