http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 - 3rd ODI
Pakistan middle-order batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq was delighted to shoulder the huge burden of the liability in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s series-sealing triumph over the West Indies at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday.
Pakistan’s dependable right-hander made 62 runs and remained unbeaten athwart the visitor’s triumphant chase of 172 runs in the third One Day International (ODI), after a series of early wickets had left him to pick up the pieces.
Misbah came to the crease when Pakistan lost two early wickets, with just nine runs on the board, with Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq’s first-ball ducks. Misbah watched from the non-striker end as the Caribbean seamer Ravi Rampaul took four wickets for 32
runs and continued Pakistan’s decay with the wickets of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c2720 who made 30 runs.
At 49 runs for the loss of four wickets, the right-armer Rampaul was generating astounding bounce from the wicket. So Misbah, and middle to lower order, had a lot to do.
Hammad Azam, who was batting for the first time in the ODI series, scored a steady 36 runs and became a victim of Asoka de Silva’s ill decision. Misbah though, went on to pile up 78 runs and that's where the host’s leg-spinner, Devendra Bishoo, jolted the
recovery work.
In quick succession, Bishoo took wickets of Azam, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Salman-c77287, to somewhat rattle the opposition.
Pakistan's Mr. dependable Misbah, however, dug deeper and deeper with every ball and with an aggressive tail-ender in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wahab-Riaz-c2775, eventually secured victory with 4.5 overs to spare.
"The wicket wasn't easy for us as there was bit more bounce and pace. I thought I had to bat until the end for us to win. The ball got softer as it got older, so I could handle it easily eventually," said Misbah, who fetched the Man of the Match award for
his 109-delivery effort. "With the new ball, Rampaul bowled really well and kept us under pressure."
Pakistan now sporting a dominant three nil lead in the five-match series, and uncapped left-armer Sadaf Hussain and right-handed batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usman-Salahuddin-c94700 waiting in the wings, Captain Afridi suggested Pakistan might feature young players in the remaining
two matches on Monday and Thursday.
"The way the boys delivered in the series was good. There are still some problems. The coaches will come hard in the meetings. We all know we made mistakes. We will now look to give chances to youngsters in the batting area and we have a medium-pacer or
two to come in as well," concluded the triumphant skipper.
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