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Australia have lost their Twenty20 series against the West Indies after the hosts scored a six-wicket win in St Lucia to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Australia have suffered a fourth straight T20 international cricket series loss after another mediocre batting effort and a Chris Gayle-inspired West Indies onslaught in St Lucia.
The home team took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, winning by six wickets after reaching their target of 142 in 14.5 overs.
Gayle, who became the first player to score 14,000 T20 runs, smashed 67 off 38 balls.
It was 41-year-old Gayle's highest score in 20 T20 internationals since 2016
While Gayle struck seven sixes, Australia cleared the boundary just twice in another modest batting effort, scoring 6-141 after being dismissed for 140 and 127 in the first two games.
Captain Aaron Finch opted to bat first after losing the first two matches when he asked the West Indies to bat.
But Australia managed just 11 fours, and didn't notch their first six until the final ball of the 16th over.
Gayle who had totalled just 41 in his five previous T20 internationals, scored over half his runs In two overs, taking 18 off Josh Hazlewood and 22 off Adam Zampa, hitting three straight sixes off the latter.
He revealed he had been inspired by a talk from injured captain Kieron Pollard.
"He let me know where I stand within this team and he wanted me to go and express myself, so I'm very grateful for that pep talk," Gayle said.
Australia scored just 69 runs off the last 10 overs, three fewer than in the first 10.
A fourth wicket stand of 59, Australia's first half century partnership of the series between Moises Henriques (33 off 29 balls) and Ashton Turner (24 not out off 22), added some substance to the innings.
"They went into a really defensive strategy early in the innings and just didn't allow us to get into any sort of momentum throughout that back end," Henriques said.
Australia struggled against the dual spin attack of Fabian Allen (1-26 off four) and Hayden Walsh (2-18 off four) and veteran medium pacer Dwayne Bravo (1-17 of three).
They didn't capitalise on an opening stand of 41 off the first five overs between Matthew Wade (23 off 16) and Finch (30 off 31).
Finch struggled for fluency after two single-digit dismissals, hitting just two boundaries.
Mitchell Marsh, who was coming off half-centuries in the two previous games, was trapped lbw for nine.
Australia lost two wickets in the 12th over bowled by legspinner Walsh, leaving Henriques and Turner to rebuild the innings.
"Myself getting out with back-to back wickets exposing two new players towards the back end there, its been quite similar the whole way through (the series)," Finch said.
"Credit to West Indies as well, they bowled beautifully especially at that backend."
Paceman Mitchell Starc, (1-15 off four) who had gone for 89 off his eight overs across the first two games, bowled significantly better and had Andre Fletcher caught at midwicket off the third ball of the West Indies innings.
That brought Gayle to the crease and he took control of the chase, with captain Nicholas Pooran finishing 32 not out.
"We kept asking for improvements, how we could better our performance and tonight we came out and executed our plans with both bat and ball," Pooran said
Recalled paceman Riley Meredith (3-48 off 3.5) dismissed Gayle and was at one stage on a hat-trick
The series continues on Thursday (AEST).