The West Indies delivered a strong all-around performance to beat Australia by 56 runs and take a 2-0 lead in their five-match CG Insurance T20 international series on Saturday night.

Following their improbable 18-run win on Friday night at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia where the home side came back from the brink of defeat to stun the visitors, Saturday’s victory was much more commanding.

Man of the Match Shimron Hetmyer scored a 36-ball 61 and Dwayne Bravo, who was promoted up the order, scored an unbeaten 47, put on a West Indies all-time best fourth-wicket partnership of 103 that was the foundation of the West Indies 196-4 from their allotment of 20 overs.

Andre Russell followed up his 28-ball 51 on Friday with an unbeaten eight-ball 24 that propelled the West Indies to their winning total.

Sent to bat, the West Indies had a more productive start despite losing Andre Fletcher early. The Grenadian, who replaced an unwell Evin Lewis, was bowled by Ashton Agar for nine with 13 runs on the board in the third over.

Lendl Simmons, though, scored 30 from 21 balls before he was caught behind from a Josh Hazelwood delivery to have the West Indies at 44-2. Chris Gayle’s miserable form continued when he was bowled by Mitchell Marsh off the inside edge for 13 as the West Indies slipped to 59 for 3 in the eighth over.

Hetmyer and Bravo then set about rebuilding the West Indies’ innings, rotating the strike and hitting timely boundaries with minimal risk to have the Australians on their heels. They were particularly savage on Mitchell Starc, who gave up 49 runs from his four overs and Hazelwood, who was plundered for 39 runs from his four.

Hetmyer hit two fours and four sixes before he was run out in the 18th over when the West Indies were looking to accelerate the rate of scoring.

“I think it was one of my best T20 innings. I think I paced it quite well. It really worked out well for me with the guys backing me to be the guy to just take it as deep as possible,” the Man of the Match said afterwards.

“Kudos to my team for giving me that role. I really didn’t do anything much differently tonight. It was just having a partnership in the middle to set a platform for us,” Hetmyer contined.

“I’m trying to be someone who can not only play shots but also rotate the strike and be there as long as possible. I never batted with Bravo before so it was really nice to bat with him for the first time and have a 100-run partnership. He was just telling me to keep going and just do what you do best. I really trusted him batting and running between the wickets,” he added.

Andre Russell joined Bravo at the crease smashed two sixes and two fours as the pair added 34 runs in the last two overs.

Bravo remained not out on 47 that came off 34 balls and included one four and three sixes.

Agar was the best of the Australian bowlers with 1-28. Marsh finished with 1-18 from the two overs he bowled.

Australia’s chase got off to the worst start when Sheldon Cottrell dismissed Matthew Wade for a duck with the second ball of the Australian innings. With 19 runs on the board Fidel Edwards bowled Aaron Finch for 6 and Australia were up against it.

Marsh followed up his maiden T20 half-century on Friday night with 54 but the visitors struggled to maintain the required rate of scoring that continued to climb as the innings progressed. When he was finally dismissed by Hayden Walsh Jr in the 14th over, Australia still needed 96 runs from 40 balls to secure victory.

Marsh’s dismissal triggered a collapse that saw Australia slip from 101-3 to 124 for 8 as Walsh Jr wreaked havoc on the middle order dismissing Josh Phillippe for 13 and Moises Henriques, 19, to finish with 3-29.

Cottrell (2-22) returned to remove Adam Zampa for 3 and then Gayle bowled Hazelwood for 4 with his second ball of the match to wrap up the Australian tail. The Universe Boss finished with figures of 1-1.

It was another good night for stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran, who for a second consecutive match, was deputizing for the injured Kieron Pollard.

“We just said that we had to put a total on the board, do the same things we did last night but even better,” a beaming Pooran said afterwards.

“The decision to send Dwayne up the order to keep a left-right combination was fantastic, seeing a senior player raising their hand and showing their experience. Dwayne asked the question [to come in at No. 5] and we just saw it was important to have a left-right combo with the wind factor, so I held myself back. We know how dangerous we can be in the last five overs.”

He also praised his bowlers, who stymied the Australians while frequently taking wickets.

“We know how passionate Fabian (Allen) is and sticking to the plan is very pleasing. Hayden, after working months and months day in and day out to come back tonight and be a match-winner for us is wonderful as well.”

Finch, the Australian skipper said the Hetmyer/Bravo partnership and losing early wickets put pressure on his team and they failed to respond accordingly.

“I don’t think the wicket changed a huge amount again. It played pretty well. Chasing 190, you have to get off to a pretty good start and when your two openers get out cheaply, it puts a lot of pressure on a reasonably inexperienced – at least in terms of international T20 cricket – middle order,” he said.

“The partnership between Hetmyer and Bravo, that’s the difference in the game. I thought the front half of our [bowling] innings was pretty good. It’s always tough bowling to a left-right combination with a big breeze going to one side of the ground.”