A thrilling last ball finish to the 3rd ODI saw a tied result as the last West Indian pair ensured that Pakistani bowlers were unable to defend 229

By PakPassion Staff (19th July, 2013)

Toss: Dwayne Bravo won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Teams:

Pakistan: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Irfan

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

Dwayne Bravo won the toss and chose to bowl first in a bid to utilize the early moisture on the wicket. Pakistan openers Ahmed Shahzad and Nasir Jamshed played cautiously and against their natural style of play. The wicket looked lively and offered some bounce. Ahmed Shahzad got an early life, when he dropped by Chris Gayle off Jason Holder, but he failed to capitalize and was caught rather effectively by Kemar Roach on the fence off the same bowler for 17(44) in the 12th over.

His opening partner, Nasir Jamshed, couldn’t resist temptation and failed to execute the pull shot off a short Darren Sammy bowl. He departed for 20(28) in the very next over. Then came to the crease Mr. Dependable, Misbah-ul-Haq, who joined Mohammad Hafeez. Both of them rallied along and tried to steady the ship, before Mohmmad Hafeez fell prey to DJ Bravo for 14(33), which continued his dip in form.

The debutant from Sialkot, Haris Sohail, made his way out to support his skipper, but looked nervous and shaky as a debutant usually looks. In the meanwhile, Misbah-ul-Haq, in his trademark style , passed the record for the most fifties without a hundred to 27, when he reached the landmark in 91 balls. Both of them resurrected the innings well, before Kemar Roach, in the 41st over, got the better of the debutant, who scored a decent 26(37). The partnership between Misbah and Sohail was worth a valuable 60 runs.

Umar Akmal, the half-centurion from the last match, was brought in to bat with Misbah, who was then going along nicely at 65(103). Umar Akmal played his shots and was going fine, but Misbah was cleaned up by DJ Bravo, when he was in the process of changing gears. He perished on 75(112). Shahid Afridi came in and went out, trying to slice Jason Holder out of the park. His disappointed innings yielded a mere run. Umar Akmal, though, carried on, picked up the pace and blasted three fours in the 47th over off DJ Bravo.

Pakistan reached 200 in the 48th over courtesy of an Umar Akmal boundary. Wahab Riaz was firing on all cylinders and smashed DJ Bravo for six in the same over, then followed it up with another one the very next ball. That over cost the West Indies 16 runs and Pakistan were well on track to post a defendable total for their bowlers. The last over was bowled by Kieron Pollard, who came on to bowl his only over. The move didn’t pay dividends and the over yielded 11 runs. Pakistan finished on a decent total of 229/6 from 50 overs. Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz ended on brisk 40 and 19 respectively. The last 4 overs brought a valuable 50 for Pakistan.


Fall of Wickets:

1-39 (Ahmed Shehzad, 11.5 overs)
2-39 (Nasir Jamshed, 12.1 overs)
3-92 (Mohammad Hafeez, 27.1 overs)
4-152 (Haris Sohail, 40.5 overs)
5-174 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 44.3 overs)
6-177 (Shahid Afridi, 45.4 overs)

In reply to the chase of 230 runs, Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles strode out in the middle but both the openers fell very early as par the trend which has been seen in this series. Mohammad Irfan’s extra bounce and immaculate line got the better of Charles while Chris Gayle played a lose shot away from the body, chopping it on the stumps from Junaid Khan.

Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels fought well after losing the openers very early. It looked as if the West Indies were following the footsteps of Pakistan – blocking deliveries instead of rotating the strike. Wahab Riaz struck right after the drinks break making a good use of the short ball – Darren Bravo took his eyes off the ball edging it straight into the air where Mohammad Hafeez rushed from square leg and took a fine diving catch. West Indies were reeling on 51/3 after 17 overs.

Marlon Samuels was given a life when he was dropped by Umar Akmal off Saeed Ajmal in his very first over. Marlon Samuels played a very gradual innings whilst Simmons continued to score at an acceptable strike rate. Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels formed a valuable partnership of 91 runs which finally came to an end after Mohammad Irfan struck once again with the short ball this time sending Marlon Samuels back to the hutch.

Saeed Ajmal had caught Bravo lbw but the West Indian captain used the review which showed that ball was missing the leg stump. With 52 runs remaining from 5 overs, Simmons took his chance by heaving one over the mid-wicket but it proved useless for Simmons as Ahmed Shahzad took a brilliant catch in the deep. In the same over, Bravo missed a quicker off-break which shattered the leg stump.
Pollard could not endure a devastating yorker fired from round the stumps by Junaid Khan, sending the giant back very early in the peace. Sammy heaved a short ball straight to Hafeez at long-on. Narine went after Saeed Ajmal by smashing 14 runs off balls but Ajmal jolted the timber with a flatter off-break.

Wahab Riaz could not defend 15 off the last over and with 3 needed of the last ball, Umar Akmal missed a return throw from Junaid Khan leaving the match result to a tie.


Fall of Wickets:
1-13 (Charles, 2.4 overs)
2-16 (Gayle, 3.5 overs)
3-50 (Darren Bravo, 16.1 overs)
4-141 (Samuels, 38.1 overs)
5-178 (Simmons, 45.2 overs)
6-179 (Bravo, 45.4 overs)
7-184 (Pollard, 46.3 overs)
8-191 (Sammy, 46.6 overs)
9-205 (Narine, 47.5 overs)

Pakistan would be disappointed with the performance today - this was a game there to be won but the team management have some serious thinking to do here to ensure that this is not repeated again. The continued failure to post reasonable total by Pakistan must be a worrying sign although West Indies should consider themselves lucky for this "great escape"!

A fair result? Depends on which side of the fence you sit on but definitely one that West Indian team seem to cherish more than the Pakistanis.

DISCUSS