Ahmed Shehzad's fifty helped visitors to chase down 125 after Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan took two wickets apiece to limit hosts to a below-par total.

By Abdullah Ansari (2nd February, 2017)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and chose to field.

Teams:

West Indies: E Lewis, CAK Walton†, MN Samuels, LMP Simmons, KA Pollard, JN Mohammed, CR Brathwaite*, JO Holder, SP Narine, S Badree, KOK Williams

Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Sarfraz Ahmed*†, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Rumman Raees, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali

West Indies Innings

Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to field with Rumman Raees replacing Sohail Tanvir versus an unchanged home side. Lewis and Walton started aggressively until Imad dismissed the former as he was caught in the deep. Walton looked threatening, smashing four sixes on his way to a forty until he was caught at long on off Shadab's bowling. Samuels struggled to get the ball away, beginning slowly. Hasan then came on to bowl and had Mohammed in all sorts of trouble with a superb over and finished by rattling his stumps on the final delivery. Samuels responded with a couple of sixes off Wahab but Hasan struck back with a run out and then followed it up with another outstanding in-dipper to Samuels - he had no response and was bowled as Hasan bowled his second consecutive maiden. Pollard struggled during his short stay at the crease and was bowled by Rumman while Holder holed out off Shadab. Rumman and Wahab conceded 13 off each of their last two overs as Brathwaite finished strongly but West Indies could only muster a total of 124/8. 

Fall Of Wickets

1-27 (Lewis, 2.5 ov)
2-52 (Walton, 8.1 ov)
3-59 (Mohammed, 10.6 ov)
4-73 (Simmons, 12.1 ov)
5-73 (Samuels, 12.2 ov)
6-82 (Pollard, 14.4 ov)
7-83 (Holder, 15.2 ov)
8-121 (Narine, 18.6 ov)

Pakistan Innings

The chase began with occasional boundaries from Shehzad and Kamran with the latter hitting a four and six off a Badree over. Williams and Narine bowled a couple of tight overs but Shehzad hit back with two boundaries off Holder. Samuels came on to bowl and once again dismissed Kamran with the first ball he bowled to him, a tame dismissal as the batsman offered a simple catch to mid-wicket. Shehzad and Babar motored along during the middle overs as Pakistan reached 61/1 in 10. Both batsmen hit Badree for a six in his last over as he finished with 0/38, his most expensive T20I spell. Shehzad reached his fifty off 43 balls but was dismissed two balls later for 53 by Williams. Babar failed to carry through to the end, getting out to Williams for 38. Malik finished off the chase with a boundary as the series win was sealed with a seven-wicket victory with an over to spare.

Fall Of Wickets

1-40 (Kamran Akmal, 6.2 ov)
2-110 (Ahmed Shehzad, 15.6 ov)
3-115 (Babar Azam, 17.1 ov)

Match Summary:

A comfortable victory in the end for Pakistan and once again, the bowlers were the architect of the win. West Indies looked to be going well until Shadab dismissed Walton and then Hasan ran through the middle order with an excellent display. The chase was not a very challenging one and Pakistan closed it out easily enough despite lacking the firepower to reach the total in quick time. 

Next match: 1st ODI on Friday, 7th April.

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