Pakistan v West Indies – Men in Green win by seven wickets in second ODI
Pakistan on tour of the West Indies defeated the home side by seven wickets in their second fixture of the five-match One Day International (ODI) series.
After restricting the home side to 220 runs, Pakistan managed to pull off their second back-to-back victory after starting the tour with a loss in the one-off Twenty20 match of the tour.
Having a relatively small target in their sights, Pakistan initiated a slow start to their innings in a bid to retain wickets. Openers, Mohammad Hafeez, and, Ahmed Shehzad, appeared to be in staggering form, as both batsmen frustrated Darren Sammy’s men
by playing awesomely well-timed shots.
The two openers chose to give their side a calm and mature start instead of taking risks. The batsmen knew that the track was spinner friendly and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 lacked quality spinners in their squad. The medium pacers that the Windies used against Hafeez
and Shehzad didn’t trouble the batsmen to an extent of losing their wicket.
In 18 overs the Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 scored 66 runs without the loss of any wicket.
However, in the next over, Devendra Bishoo struck, as Hafeez was trying to cut a delivery and ended up giving a catch to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anthony-Martin-c45051 at backward point. The opener lost his wicket after scoring 32 runs off 51 deliveries.
Pakistan’s one down batsman, Asad Shafiq, was then run-out after scoring 23 runs off 37 deliveries.
However, Shehzad kept belting the home side from the other end, as he seemed to be in tremendous form with the bat. With http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 at the crease, Shehzad showed even more confidence, as he improved the selection of his shots. Together the two played
sensible cricket and took their side near the total.
In the 46th over, the Pakistani opener finally lost patience and came down the track to smack Bishoo to finish things early. However, he completely missed the delivery, which was cleanly collected by the wicketkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Carlton-Baugh-c49264, who stumped
the batsman after he played a splendid innings of 102 runs off 148 deliveries.
Then Misbah and Umar Akmal, steered their side to victory, as both stayed unbeaten on 43 and 17 runs. Afridi was clearly jubilant after his side’s second commendable run chase, since Pakistan are known for being nervous chasers.
Debutant spinner A. Martin remained wicket-less, as West Indies’s decision to play a spinner did not help them to a great extent. He conceded 36 runs in his 10 overs.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Afridi chose to field first, on a spinning track. With world class spinners in the squad it was a justified decision by the Pakistani skipper.
Darren Sammy’s men seemed completely rattled by the spin attack they were up against and similar to the previous match, the hosts had no answer to Pakistan’s spin.
West Indies opener, Lendl Simmons, is getting better and better with time and is becoming a vital asset for his team. So far in the series he has shown great touch with the bat and in this match he again gave a commendable performance by scoring the highest
number of runs for his team.
Simmons resisted the spinning onslaught that his side was up against and almost gave his team a perfect start, which the squad failed to capitalise on. Simmons played a 51 run knock off 48 deliveries, which included four boundaries and two sixes. He was
removed by Afridi, as Umar Akmal took a sharp catch at short-extra cover.
Marlon Samuels was the second highest scorer for the Windies, as he made 29 runs off 74 deliveries. He was bowled by Hammad Azam.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s Ahmed Shehzad was named man of the match. The player praised the skipper Afridi for believing in him and retaining him in the squad after some low performances.
The two teams are scheduled to meet in the third match of the tournament on April 28 at Bridgetown.
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