Off-spinner kept the Pakistan batsmen in check and finished with figures of 4/26 as West Indies won by 37 runs

By Waqas Zafar (16th June, 2013)

Pakistan vs. West Indies (2nd ODI)

Match Result: West Indies win by 37 runs MOM: Sunil Narine

Toss: Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Teams:

Pakistan: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Asad Ali, Mohammad Irfan

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Kemar Roach, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder



West Indies innings:

Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bowl, expecting that there would be some moisture in the pitch which had been under the covers for most of the time due to scattered thunderstorms and it had left the Pakistan skipper in a hope that there will be seam movement early on.

Mohammad Irfan struck in the very first over the match, this time getting rid of the dangerous Chris Gayle who has struggled to get runs. It was a full wide, swinging delivery and this time Gayle played a loose drive away from the body edging it straight to the keeper.

Irfan bowled a belligerent first spell - getting the ball to jag both ways but all the pressure created was discharged by Asad Ali. Surprisingly enough, Saeed Ajmal was introduced in only the 8th over, but Charles continued to show his intent and smashed him for a six. The signs from West Indies were clear as they were not going to allow any of the bowlers to bog them down.

After 10 overs, West Indies were 50/1 but rain had forced the officials to stop the play. The rain interruption was brief and play was started without any reduction in the overs.

Charles and Bravo were looking comfortable out in the middle but Shahid Afridi, who had bamboozled the Caribbean boys with the ball in the previous match struck right away, getting rid of Johnson Charles. Charles tried to smash a flighted delivery but the turn got the better of him and Akmal made no mistake in stumping. This 79-run partnership had brought a much needed momentum to the West Indies innings after losing the wicket of Gayle in the first over of the innings.

West Indies lost the wicket of Darren Bravo at the half-way mark as he was squared up by a ‘doosra’ from Saeed Ajmal. Bravo played with a lot of composure for his 54 runs. Marlon Samuels, who has been striving for runs this year, was foxed by Saeed Ajmal when he tried to push one down to the third man but his off stump was knocked over.

After a healthy partnership between Charles and Darren Bravo, the other West Indian batters seemed to have lost concentration. Lendl Simmons top edged one regulation from Shahid Afridi and West Indies were scrambled at 150/5.

Saeed Ajmal continued to bowl his bag of varieties and nearly got rid of the Kieron Pollard, but he was fortunate enough to survive a plumb LBW shout that was turned down by the umpire.

Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo started their free flowing hitting in the 46th over when Wahab Riaz was clobbered all over the park, leaking 19 runs in the over.

Asad Ali was brought back into the attack and his gentle medium pace was feasted on by Darren Bravo. He bowled a full swinging yorker to Kieron Pollard. In the final over, Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach were run-out by Umar Akmal’s brilliant presence of mind. In the end, West Indies who had been struggled to put runs on the board in the last couple of matches reached a modest total of 232 runs.

Fall of Wickets:
1-2 (Gayle, 0.6 overs)
2-81 (Charles, 18.2 overs)
3-123 (Darren Bravo, 32.1 overs)
4-137 (Samuels, 35.3 overs)
5-150 (Simmons, 38.5 overs)
6-220 (Pollard, 48.3 overs)
7-226 (Sammy, 49.2 overs)
8-226 (Roach, 49.3 overs)



Pakistan Innings:

Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad started cautiously and were very selective in the shots they played. Jamshed was given a chance early on when he chased a full wide delivery that went straight to Dwayne Bravo who juggled at the ball but was unable to pouch it. Just when both of the openers started to score freely, Ahmed Shehzad poked at a length ball without any feet movement straight into the hands of wicket keeper.

Mohammad Hafeez gifted his wicket to Narine by trying to clear the long-on fielder. Misbah-ul-Haq and Nasir Jamshed then started the re-building process by knocking the ball into the gaps. Jamshed was again given a life when he top edged one from Samuels but Gayle could not hold onto a difficult chance.

Misbah-ul-Haq fell prey to Darren Sammy when he tried to cut the ball by making room outside leg stump. Asad Shafiq played a nothing shot as he smashed a short ball straight to the short cover fielder. The Pakistan innings lacked a big partnership that could have changed the scenario of the match. Wickets falling at regular intervals continuously hurt Pakistan's prospects of chasing the target down.

Jamshed was finally caught when he chipped the ball straight into the air and this time Roach made no mistake in holding that one. Poor shot selection from the batsmen had brought back the hosts right back into this game. Shahid Afridi was unable to pick Narine’s variation and in the end he was stumped quite easily. Wahab Riaz and Saeed Ajmal were also the victims of Narine as the ball started to turn quite viciously.

Umar Akmal scored a hard fought fifty but was unable to finish things off for his side. Pakistan were wrapped up for 195 runs.

Fall of Wickets:
1-37 ( Shahzad, 10.4 overs)
2-64 (Hafeez, 17.1 overs)
3-103 (Misbah, 28.4 overs)
4-122 ( Shafiq, 33.1 overs)
5-137 (Jamshed, 36.2 overs)
6-151 (Afridi, 39.5 overs)
7-162 (Wahab Riaz, 43.1 overs)
8-164 (Ajmal, 43.4 overs)
9-195 (Umar Akmal, 47.4 overs)
10-195 (47.5 overs)