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

Teams:

Pakistan: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Hammad Azam, Zulfiqar Babar, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan 

West Indies: J Charles, CH Gayle, MN Samuels, LMP Simmons, KA Pollard, DJ Bravo, DJG Sammy, SP Narine, S Badree, TL Best, ST Gabriel 


West Indies Innings

Captain Hafeez opted to open the bowling and the decision proved to be the right one, as he picked up two wickets in his first two overs. The off-spinner struck with the third ball of the innings, bowling Johnson Charles for 1, and returned an over later to trap Chris Gayle (5) lbw, whose horror run of poor scores continued, leaving the West Indies 13/2 after 3 overs. 

Sandwiched in between the Hafeez overs was a wayward Mohammad Irfan over, who conceded two boundaries, one each for Samuels and Gayle, as he dropped short and then over-pitched. Samuels strategy to back away to open up the offside to counter the bounce of Irfan proved fruitful, as he then picked up two fours and a six off Irfan's second over. 

Zulfiqar Babar, making his debut at the age of 34, was welcomed into international cricket with a six off his second delivery by Lendl Simmons (6), but the experienced bowler had the last laugh, squaring him up with a delivery that pitched middle and hit off stump. 

Pakistan went into the match with four spinners, and captain Hafeez looked to give them all an opportunity to bowl early in the innings, as Ajmal was introduced in the sixth over. Samuels, who was playing a lone hand for the West Indies, hit Ajmal for a one-handed four in the over as West Indies ended the over 41/3. However, Samuel's cameo of 25(22) was ended in the next over by Babar, who did well to catch a ball smashed back at him, leaving west Indies 42/4 after 6.2 overs. 

Shahid Afridi was the next spinner off the rank, bowling the eighth over, and had a shout for an lbw against Pollard turned down. Pakistan also missed a run-our opportunity. Pollard launched Afridi for a huge straight six off the last ball of the 10th over, with West Indies on 65/4 at the half-way point. 

This led to a fairly sedate few overs, as West Indies looked consolidate with Keiron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo at the crease. Pakistan bowled tightly, although Pollard did hit an Ajmal half-volley over the bowler's head for four. Afridi ended his four-over spell (0/24) in the 14th over, which signalled the introduction of Junaid Khan into the attack. His second ball was a characteristic short delivery, and was pulled hard but a diving stop by Umar Amin restricted the batting side to just one. The next ball, a half-volley, was flicked to the boundary as the left-armer missed the yorker length he was aiming for. West Indies 96/4 after 15 overs. 

Babar's dream debut continued, as Bravo's 25(35) flourishing aerial shot over looking for six was plucked out of the air by Saeed Ajmal of all people in the deep. Baber's inclusion was questioned by many, but his domestic form and debut figures of 3/23 justify his selection.

Sammy was the next man in, and mowed Junaid for four straight down the ground.

There was a brief interruption to the game as the rain came down in the 18th over and the players were off the field for 15 minutes. Ajmal resumed his over and bowled the remaining five balls with verity and accuracy, taking advantage of the break in concentration of the batsmen.

Sammy launched a Junaid Khan slower ball for 6 over long-on, before the rain came down again. Sammy wasted no time after the rain break, smashing Junaid for six and four in the 19th over, which went for 20. The second six was a little unfortunate, as Umar Amin got hands to it but only managed to push the ball over the rope.

Irfan was brought back in the final over, with read 6,2,1,6,W, 1W with Sammy doing the damage before holing out in the deep as West Indies pummelled 36 off the last two overs. 

Pollard played a good knock with the West Indies under the pressure, scoring 49*(36), but it was Captain Sammy's blistering cameo of 30(14) with two fours and three sixes which pushed the home side to 152/7 after struggling earlier in the innings. His Pakistani counterpart however left the field with question marks over why he decision to bowl only two of his quota despite the pitch taking considerable spin.


Fall Of Wickets
1-2 Charles 0.3 overs
2-13 Gayle, 2.5 overs 
3-33 Simmons, 4.4 overs
4-42 Samuels, 6.2 overs
5-98 Bravo, 15.5 overs 
6-151 Sammy, 19.5 overs
7-152 Narine, 19.6 overs


Pakistan Innings

Pakistan openers came out to bat, with 153 runs to chase. Darren Sammy seemed to have learned very little from the errors of Mohammad Hafeez and gave the new ball to Shannon Gabriel, who was dispatched for six by Nasir Jamshed. However, Shannon Gabriel obliged by taking the wicket of Nasir Jamshed, who departed for 6(4). 

In the very next over, Ahmed Shahzad followed him for 3(6), when he was caught outstandingly by Kieron Pollard for. Mohammad Hafeez came and opened his account immediately with a four. In the next over, Shannon Gabriel was put to the sword by Umar Amin, who managed three boundaries in that over, which prompted Darren Sammy to take him out of the attack. Umar Amin continued his flurry of boundaries against Samuel Badree. Mohammad Hafeez was caught after he had hit two fours in the next over off Sunil Narine, when he was looking good for 13(7). 

Umar Amin was blazing at the other end and struck three fours in the next over off Samuel Badree. Umar Akmal came out to bat, but he was run out trying to sneak in a single for 9(9). Next came Hammad Azam. The two youngsters, Umar Amin and Hammad Azam were at the crease, but not for long as Marlon Samuels got Umar Amin stumped on 47(36). Shahid Afridi made his way to the crease and right away went after Marlon Samuels for six. Shahid Afridi kept his head and stroked Sunil Narine for six to get his 400th international six. In the very next over, he got a four to Tino Best. Shahid Afridi was playing very well under intense pressure when he cheekily got a boundary off Shannon Gabriel, but was caught by Dwayne Bravo trying to hit him over mid-off. He made a well-needed 46(27). 

It was now left to the debutant Zulfiqar Babar and Saeed Ajmal to try and take Pakistan over the line. A few wides from Shannon Gabriel helped the cause and 6 were needed off the last over from Marlon Samuels. Zulfiqar Babar lofted him and got a four off the very first ball. It was all down to the last ball, when one was required off the final ball. Zulfiqar Babar lofted the ball again and this time for six to gift Pakistan a memorable win on debut. 


Fall Of Wickets
1-7 Nasir Jamshed, 0.4 overs
2-10 Ahmed Shehzad, 1.4 overs 
3-45 Mohammad Hafeez, 4.5 overs 
4-77 Umar Akmal, 8.2 overs 
5-86 Umar Amin, 11.1 overs
6-116 Hammad Azam, 14.6 overs 
7-145 Shahid Afridi, 18.2 overs
8-152 Saeed Ajmal, 19.5 overs


Match Summary:

A match for the debutantes - Zulfiqar Babar picked up the best bowling figures for Pakistan and then went on to hit a six off the final ball of the innings to take Pakistan home with the bat. Umar Amin too, with his fluent 47(34) provided some impetus after the top order collapse. 

Afridi deserving of a mention too, 46(27), four fours, two sixes brought Pakistan close before Babar finished the job.


Next Game:

2nd T20I: West Indies v Pakistan at Kingstown, 28 July 2013 (18:00 GMT)