Abbott's all-round heroics take Australia to series win

SYDNEY, Feb 04 (AFP): Man of the match Sean Abbott grabbed three wickets and slammed an entertaining 69 as Australia cruised to an 83-run victory over the West Indies in the second one-day international to seal the three-match series on Sunday.
Chasing 258-9, the visitors were dismissed for 175 in the 44th over at a humid Sydney Cricket Ground.
Abbott starred with 3-40 while Josh Hazlewood took 3-43.
"It was a challenging start to the game, the West Indies bowled quite well early on. It was a tricky surface, but our late middle order did a terrific job," said Australia skipper Steve Smith.
"I thought 250 was around par and we came out and did the job really nicely with the ball."
It was Australia's 11th consecutive ODI win to wrap up the series with a match to play in Canberra on Tuesday.
Australia won the first game in Melbourne by eight wickets and while it was a more disciplined bowling performance by the West Indies, their batters struggled against the hosts' relentless attack.
"I thought we stuck to our guns really well in the bowling department," said West Indies captain Shai Hope. "But the Aussies bowled very well and we need to find a way to bat a bit more freely."
The West Indies run chase started with a flourish as Alick Athanaze slammed successive boundaries off Aaron Hardie.
But he was out the following ball for 11 and fellow opener Justin Greaves (eight) went the next over with Hazlewood -- back in the side for rested Melbourne bowling hero Xavier Bartlett -- doing the damage.