Covid-19 and rain in Barbados meant this T20I between West Indies and Pakistan have now been reduced to three-match series

 

Match Summary

West Indies 150/4 (20 ov)

Pakistan 157/8 (20 ov)

Result - Pakistan won by 7 runs

SCORECARD

Pakistan take a 1-0 lead in the series ??

Mohammad Hafeez the pick of the bowlers returning excellent figures of 1/6 from his four overs. #WIvPAK | https://t.co/hYOAP4n2eO pic.twitter.com/jIp9EDkL61

— ICC (@ICC) July 31, 2021

Morale-boosting win for Pakistan 

Covid-19 and rain in Barbados meant this T20I between West Indies and Pakistan have now been reduced to three-match series with all the matches to be staged at Queen’s Park (New) in St Georges in Grenada. Showers had been forecast on the island but thankfully a full game took place and the tourists emerged winners by 7 runs in a tight finish.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard asked Pakistan to bat first and his bowlers did pretty well to keep the score down to 55-1, after six overs of power play. The opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Sharjeel Khan put on 46 runs on the board in 4.4 overs, with the latter out, caught at mid-on, after hoisting Jason Holder for a six. The in-form Rizwan hit two sixes off slow left-armer - Akeal Hosein and was relishing to play another knock of substance for his side, on this ground with shortish boundaries.

At the half stage, the tourists had progressed to 85-1 and given themselves a great chance to mount 200 plus total. That could only be achieved by breaking the shackles put in place by West Indies slow bowlers. There was a passage of play that was dominated by dot balls and singles and Pakistan were certainly behind the clock when it reached 102-1 after 13 overs. (Hayden) Walsh Jr. , having arrived in the Caribbean after international representation of USA, was superb with his wrist spin and only went for 25 runs in his four-over quota. Rizwan was run out after contributing 46 off 36 balls, with his side looking for few big overs to post a decent total.

Babar brought up his fifty with a six over square leg off 38 balls, just prior to rain interrupting Pakistan innings that stood at 134-2 at the end of the 16 overs. The last over before the rain was worth 17 runs and it could not have come at the worst time for the batting side. To the delight of the West Indies team, Babar was out first ball after resumption for 51, leaving two relatively fresh batsmen to try breaking free against a disciplined bowling on somewhat sluggish track.  Dwayne Bravo – the canny old T20 operator, put further brakes on Pakistan by sending back Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman in two balls, in the 18^th over. The home side had not allowed any power hitting and Pakistan could only manage a below-par 157-8, with the last five overs worth only 40 runs.

Although it was a slow surface, with a number of big-hitting batsmen in their ranks, the target of 158 seemed to pose very little threat to West Indies. The 41-year old Chris Gayle, walked in at No.3, in the first over but Hafeez’s off-spin was on the money as he only gave away five runs in his three overs. The ‘big man’ was sent back by Hasan Ali and Pakistan had done well to restrict the scoring to 31-2 (6 overs) in the first power play. The slow bowlers seemed to hold the key to this match as the scoring rate dropped to under six with West Indies only 59-2 at the half stage of their innings.

The second half of West Indies innings started with it requiring 99 runs of 60 balls (10 overs) and both teams in with a chance to go one up in the series.  In the next four over, only 17 runs were scored with Hafeez finishing his spell with extraordinary figures of 4.1.6.1., surely a match-winning effort ? The asking rate of 14.80 runs an over was certainly going to challenge skipper Pollard, when he arrived to take strike and then saw West Indies crawling to 84-3 after 15 overs. He was surely the batting side’s last hope.

Over number 16 – bowled by Mohammad Wasim Jr. went for 18, featuring two sixes by Nicholas Pooran. He had no option but to change gear at this stage as Pakistan’s out cricket was brilliant, leaving West Indies a stiff target of 46 runs off 18 balls. He smashed another two off Hasan Ali in the 19^th over but his side was still 20 runs short when the last over began. Pooran’s unbeaten 62 (33 balls, 4 fours and 6 sixes), could not take his side, over the finishing line.

 

Fall of wickets

Pakisan: Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Sharjeel Khan - 4.4 ov), 2-113 (Mohammad Rizwan - 14.2 ov), 3-134 (Babar Azam - 16.1 ov), 4-145 (Mohammad Hafeez - 17.5 ov), 5-145 (Fakhar Zaman - 17.6 ov), 6-150 (Hasan Ali - 18.4 ov), 7-150 (Sohaib Maqsood - 18.5 ov), 8-157 (Shadab Khan - 19.6 ov)

West Indies: Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Andre Fletcher - 0.2 ov), 2-31 (Chris Gayle - 5.6 ov), 3-70 (Shimron Hetmyer - 11.5 ov), 4-140 (Kieron Pollard - 19.2 ov)

Playing XIs:

West Indies - Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Dwayne Bravo, Hayden Walsh, Akeal Hosein

Pakistan - Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Qadir

© Cricket World 2021