The former hit an unbeaten 125 to guide Pakistan to 282/5 while the latter took 5/38 as the visitors sealed a 74-run victory.

By Abdullah Ansari (9th April, 2017)

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

Teams:

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

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

Pakistan Innings

Holder won the toss once again and chose to field as Junaid replaced Wahab in the Pakistan lineup. Shehzad and Kamran began slowly in contrast to the first ODI with the West Indian pacers bowling tighter lines. This soon brought about the wicket of Shehzad as he perished, caught down the leg-side after a slew of dot-balls. Babar and Kamran finally got a few boundaries away as the innings gathered a bit of momentum but Kamran was also strangled down the leg-side by Joseph for 21. Babar and Hafeez began slowly with the latter in particular taking some time to get going and struggling to rotate the strike. Babar settled down after the boundaries earlier and focused on turning the strike over. Just as Hafeez began to find some rhythm, he fell to Nurse, running down the pitch and missing the ball, getting stumped for 32 off 50.

Babar got to his fifty soon off 61 balls while Malik looked to rotate strike regularly to build momentum. However, he failed and was soon dismissed by Bishoo as he tried to drive a leg-break and was caught behind. Sarfraz came in with a positive frame of mind and pushed the fielders with sharp singles and doubles. He got a couple of boundaries away and was ably aided by Babar as the two put on a fifty partnership. Sarfraz was dismissed for 26 as he top edged a delivery off Gabriel for a simple catch. Imad was circumspect at first as he looked to settle down with 11 overs remaining while Babar hit a couple of boundaries to move into the 90s. He soon reached his 5th ODI hundred and the two took off straight away, with 46 runs coming off the last 3 overs including a few big sixes as Babar finished on 125* off 132 while Imad made 43* off 34 with the final total 282/5.

Fall Of Wickets

1-16 (Ahmed Shehzad, 4.5 ov)
2-44 (Kamran Akmal, 8.6 ov)
3-113 (Mohammad Hafeez, 25.0 ov)
4-128 (Shoaib Malik, 28.5 ov)
5-183 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 38.4 ov)

West Indies Innings

Amir and Junaid began brightly with the latter creating a catching chance straight away but the substitute fielder, Fakhar, shelled the catch. Lewis and Walton hit back with a few boundaries but the latter was the first to fall as he found mid-on via a top-edge off Junaid. Amir also struck with a straight delivery, getting Lewis LBW cheaply. The batsmen continued attacking with Junaid's initial spell proving to be an expensive one. However, Hasan came on to bowl and removed Hope as he drove a widish delivery straight to cover. His next over provided another breakthrough as Powell was rapped on the pads - the umpire turned down the appeal but Pakistan took the review and it was successful. Jason Mohammed struggled to get going and perished soon as West Indies collapsed further - he was caught by Sarfraz off Hafeez with the captain taking a superb catch. The off-spinner struck again to remove Carter who was LBW trying to sweep one though replays showed it would have missed the stumps.

Shadab came on to bowl and there was a big appeal for LBW with the umpire agreeing and giving Nurse out. However, the decision was overturned on review as the ball was missing the stumps. Nurse struggled at times but looked for the boundaries to try and transfer pressure back to the bowlers as he took Shadab for a six and a four. He went after Hasan as well, hitting a couple of boundaries but the pacer hit back, getting him LBW with a sharp, straight delivery. Bishoo hung around for a bit as well as the hosts tried to take the match to the end but he was dismissed by Shadab, LBW to a superb leg-break. Holder held his own and went after Amir when he was recalled, getting to his fifty with a few boundaries while Joseph gave him support as the required runs were brought to under hundred. However, Hasan returned to the attack and got the last two wickets with both Joseph and Holder caught at mid-off by Babar as the innings finished on 208 with Pakistan winning by 74 runs.

Fall Of Wickets

1-22 (Walton, 3.1 ov)
2-27 (Lewis, 4.2 ov)
3-46 (Hope, 8.2 ov)
4-51 (Powell, 10.1 ov)
5-56 (Mohammed, 13.5 ov)
6-75 (Carter, 17.4 ov)
7-133 (Nurse, 28.6 ov)
8-156 (Bishoo, 33.6 ov)
9-208 (Joseph, 44.1 ov)
10-208 (Holder, 44.5 ov)

Match Summary:

A good win for Pakistan to keep the series alive and set up a decider. The openers failed again while the middle order struggled but Babar Azam stayed at the crease to ensure that the innings was taken to the final overs. He got able assistance from Imad Wasim and the two finished strongly. West Indies never looked likely to chase the total, losing several wickets up front. The home side's batsmen appear to lack the nous to build innings at the highest level. Hasan Ali was superb while Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan bowled good spells as the visitors sealed an easy win.

Next match: 3rd ODI on Tuesday, 11th April.

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