Australia all-rounder Mitchell Owen made a record-breaking start to his T20I career on Sunday (July 20) in Jamaica.
Australia put West Indies into bat in the first match of the five-match T20I series at Sabina Park, the same venue where they had shot the hosts out for 27earlier this month in the pink-ball Test. The visitors handed an international debut to the 23-year-old Owen, who had shot to light with a thundering BBL 2024/25 season.
A change of format brought a change of fortunes for the West Indian batters. Skipper Shai Hope (55 off 39) stitched a 91-run second-wicket stand with Test captain Roston Chase (60 off 32), before Shimron Hetmyer played a blazing cameo of 38 off 19. However, West Indies couldn't make the most of the platform they had set, collapsing from 166-3 in 16 overs to 189-8 in 20.
Also read: 18-year-old West Indies batting star earns maiden T20I call for Australia series
Ben Dwarshuis picked up 4-36, and Owen, who bowled the 16th over of the innings, scalped Hope to register his first wicket in international cricket. That was the only over he bowled, finishing with figures of 1-14.
In the run-chase, Australia lost regular wickets, falling to 78-4 in 8.2 overs even as Cameron Green was going strong at one end. Owen walked out at No.6 with his team needing 112 runs in 11.4 overs.
Mitchell Owen scores match-winning 50 on T20I debut
The two seam-bowling all-rounders combined to add 80 runs for the fifth wicket - Australia's second-highest fifth-wicket stand in a run-chase - in just 6.4 overs.
Owen got off the mark with a six off his fourth ball, smashing the soon-to-retire Andre Russell over his head. He hit six maximums in his 27-ball stay, two off Russell in the 10th over, three of Akeal Hosein in the 12th over, and one of Alzarri Joseph in the 17th that got him to his 50, right before getting out.
By the time Owen was dismissed, Australia needed only another 15 runs in 3.3 overs with four wickets in hand, which the seam-bowling pair of Dwarshuis and Sean Abbott finished off with seven balls remaining.
1st T20I, West Indies vs Australia
vs
- Ball by ball Over
En route to his 50 (27), Owen became the third Australian batter to score a 50 on men's T20I debut after Ricky Ponting's 98* (55) in the first ever men's T20I against New Zealand in 2005, and David Warner's 89 (43) against South Africa in 2009.
The fact that Owen's half-century came from No.6 and while chasing makes it all the more special. It is the 6th fifty-plus score by a batter at No.6 or below on men's T20I debut, and the third among players from Full Member nations, after Ireland's Simi Singh's 57* (29) and England's Phil Salt's 57 (24).
Owen also became the first Full Member player to hit six sixes while chasing on men's T20I debut and the second to do the double of scoring a 50 and taking a wicket. The only other player to do so is Simi Singh, who made 57 and picked up 3-23 on debut against Netherlands in June 2018, a month after Ireland had played their first Test match.
Owen's six sixes in the innings were accompanies by no fours. No other player in T20I history has hit six or more sixes without hitting a four on debut.
The second match of the series will be payed at the same venue on July 23.
Every 50-plus score on men's T20I debut by a Full Member player
| Player | Team | Runs | Balls Faced | 4s | 6s | SR | Opposition | Date |
| Ricky Ponting | AUS | 98* | 55 | 8 | 5 | 178.18 | v New Zealand | 17 Feb 2005 |
| David Warner | AUS | 89 | 43 | 7 | 6 | 206.97 | v South Africa | 11 Jan 2009 |
| Oshada Fernando | SL | 78* | 48 | 8 | 3 | 162.5 | v Pakistan | 9 Oct 2019 |
| Rilee Rossouw | SA | 78 | 50 | 7 | 3 | 156 | v Australia | 5 Nov 2014 |
| Dawid Malan | ENG | 78 | 44 | 12 | 2 | 177.27 | v South Africa | 25 Jun 2017 |
| Junaid Siddique | BAN | 71 | 49 | 6 | 3 | 144.89 | v Pakistan | 20 Sep 2007 |
| Tanzid Hasan | BAN | 67* | 47 | 8 | 2 | 142.55 | v Zimbabwe | 3 May 2024 |
| Scott Styris | NZ | 66 | 39 | 5 | 3 | 169.23 | v Australia | 17 Feb 2005 |
| Aaron Redmond | NZ | 63 | 30 | 13 | 0 | 210 | v Ireland | 11 Jun 2009 |
| George Worker | NZ | 62 | 38 | 3 | 4 | 163.15 | v Zimbabwe | 9 Aug 2015 |
| Graeme Smith | SA | 61 | 43 | 10 | 1 | 141.86 | v New Zealand | 21 Oct 2005 |
| Devon Smith | WI | 61 | 34 | 7 | 3 | 179.41 | v England | 28 Jun 2007 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | IND | 61 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 156.41 | v England | 31 Aug 2011 |
| Anton Devcich | NZ | 59 | 31 | 10 | 1 | 190.32 | v Bangladesh | 6 Nov 2013 |
| Simi Singh | IRE | 57* | 29 | 4 | 3 | 196.55 | v Netherlands | 12 Jun 2018 |
| Phil Salt | ENG | 57 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 237.5 | v West Indies | 26 Jan 2022 |
| Rassie van der Dussen | SA | 56 | 44 | 5 | 1 | 127.27 | v Zimbabwe | 9 Oct 2018 |
| Ishan Kishan | IND | 56 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 175 | v England | 14 Mar 2021 |
| Haider Ali | PAK | 54 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 163.63 | v England | 1 Sep 2020 |
| Will Young | NZ | 53 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 176.66 | v Bangladesh | 28 Mar 2021 |
| Marlon Samuels | WI | 51 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 196.15 | v England | 28 Jun 2007 |
| Mitchell Owen | AUS | 50 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 185.18 | v West Indies | 20 Jul 2025 |
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