Australia captain Aaron Finch hailed the exceptional performance of Nathan Coulter-Nile as he helped guide his side to a 15-run win over West Indies. The defending champions looked to be in huge trouble at Trent Bridge as they struggled to cope with the ferocious West Indies attack, which reduced them to 38-4 and then 79-5.
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However Steve Smith steadied the ship with an impressive 73 before being caught on the boundary, while Coulter-Nile, who was batting at eight smashed 92 off just 60 balls, to reach 288 off 49 overs. It was enough to see out the win as West Indies fell just short on 273-9. “We just kept hanging in there. We were able to fight back through Alex Carey and Steve Smith getting us a bit deeper,” Finch said.
“Then for Nathan Coulter-Nile to play the way he did was exceptional. “We’ve always felt he had the ability to do something like that and this time he had the opportunity to bat a bit longer. “I absolutely was nervous. At 38-4 and they keep coming hard at you – we just had to keep hanging in there and to get 288 in the end was outstanding.”
