Mohammad Hafeez hit 80 while Shoaib Malik made an unbeaten hundred as visitors easily chased down target of 234.

By Abdullah Ansari (11th April, 2017)

Toss: West Indies won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

West Indies: E Lewis, CAK Walton, KOA Powell, SD Hope†, JN Mohammed, JL Carter, JO Holder*, AR Nurse, D Bishoo, V Permaul, ST Gabriel

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed*†, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan

West Indies Innings

Holder won the toss once again and opted to bat first as the hosts brought in an extra spinner, Permaul for Joseph. The West Indian batsmen started carefully looking to conserve their wickets initially as Amir and Junaid probed for a wicket. The latter was the one to make the breakthrough as Lewis tried to pull one for six but was caught at the boundary. Walton wasn't able to make the start count as he edged one onto his stumps in Hasan's first over. Hafeez and Imad were soon bowling in tandem and they choked the batsmen with some tight bowling. Imad created a chance but Kamran grassed the simple opportunity off Powell. The drop didn't cost much as Powell was soon stumped off the same bowler. Hope was extremely slow to start while Jason Mohammed also began relatively slow as the two batsmen began to build the partnership.

Shadab came into the attack after the half-way stage and began expensively but a slew of tight overs followed with Pakistan taking an unsuccessful review for LBW. Hasan came back into the attack and the batsmen began to get a move on with Jason Mohammed smashing him for two sixes. Shadab also went for a couple off boundaries with Amir and Imad returning to the attack. They strung together a few tight overs until Junaid returned and Jason Mohammed obliged by hitting him for a couple of fours but was caught behind soon thereafter. Hope got to his fifty off 97 balls and he and Carter slugged a couple of sixes but Shadab hit back to dismiss the latter. Shadab also dismissed Hope for 71 as the batsmen tried to up the ante with Amir and Junaid returning to bowl the final few overs. Amir dismissed Holder and Permaul in his last spell as Pakistan finished strongly, limiting the total to 233/9.

Fall Of Wickets

1-31 (Lewis, 7.1 ov)
2-40 (Walton, 8.6 ov)
3-68 (Powell, 18.5 ov)
4-169 (Mohammed, 40.4 ov)
5-192 (Carter, 43.3 ov)
6-211 (Hope, 45.4 ov)
7-219 (Holder, 47.3 ov)
8-231 (Permaul, 49.4 ov)
9-233 (Bishoo, 49.6 ov)

Pakistan Innings

The chase began in a calamitous manner with Kamran dismissed first ball by Gabriel as he edged one to cover. A few tight overs followed, interrupted by a couple of boundaries from Babar but Shehzad couldn't get going and soon fell, caught behind off Holder with the wicket-keeper taking a wonderful catch. Babar and Hafeez were looking good at the crease but the former tried a loose drive against Gabriel and paid for it as he inside edged onto his stumps for 16 with Pakistan in trouble at 36/3. Hafeez kept the scoreboard moving along with constant boundaries while Malik began slowly with spin proving to be dangerous on the turning pitch. However, the breakthrough proved elusive and Gabriel was brought back but Hafeez took advantage to hit a few boundaries. 

Permaul also failed to find his radar as Malik hit him for a couple of boundaries. Holder next went to the part-timers but Hafeez responded with a six. However, he fell to Nurse soon after that as he top-edged a sweep and was caught in the deep for 81. Sarfraz came out in a positive manner and the target was soon brought under 50 as Malik took charge of the partnership. Nurse and Holder were dispatched for boundaries while Gabriel was slogged for a couple too. With Malik on 95 and four runs required, he smashed Holder for a six to bring up his hundred and seal a comfortable six-wicket win with almost seven overs to spare.

Fall Of Wickets

1-0 (Kamran Akmal, 0.1 ov)
2-16 (Ahmed Shehzad, 5.1 ov)
3-36 (Babar Azam, 8.4 ov)
4-149 (Mohammad Hafeez, 29.5 ov)

Match Summary:

A very thorough performance by Pakistan after losing the toss. The bowlers bowled well upfront and then the spinners piled on pressure in the middle overs. A couple of the West Indian batsmen threatened with fifties but couldn't carry through to the end as the away side finished on top in the death overs. The start was very poor whilst chasing but the veterans Hafeez and Malik formed a fabulous partnership against the challenge of the spinners and Malik ultimately took Pakistan home as the win was sealed with a great deal of comfort.

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