Lendl Simmons plays a shot on his way to 75 runs against Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP
ST LUCIA: In a dramatic turn of events, West Indies managed to draw their third cricket match against Pakistan in St Lucia.
After some patient work from Lendl Simmons, who struck 75 runs to keep West Indies in the game, the Caribbean side needed 15 runs off the last over with only one wicket in hand.
Wahab Riaz was tasked with defend the runs against tail-enders Jason Holder and Kemar Roach. But Riaz could not keep the two bottled down, especially Holder who first dispatched the pace bowler wide of cover for four. A dot ball later, Holder smashed Riaz over extra cover for six. This left Windies needing three runs off the last ball for a win, and two for a draw. While Holder tried to go for the maximum on the last ball, he skied it, bouncing once to third man, allowing the pair to make two runs and draw the match.
The series is no poised at 1-1
On a pitch that was considered slightly favourable for the batsmen, Pakistan have managed to score 229 for the loss of six wickets at the end of 50 overs in their match against the West Indies, according to Cricinfo.
Pakistan got off to a sluggish start, with opener Ahmed Shehzad getting dismissed for 17 at the end of the 12th over, leaving Pakistan at 39/1. With Nasir Jamshed following him without any further addition of runs, most of the batting line-up failed yet again in registering a noteworthy performance.
Jamshed was dismissed for 20, Hafeez for 14 and the much vaunted Shahid Afridi for only one run.
While debutant Haris Sohail managed a scratchy 26, the only substantial contributors for Pakistan were skipper Misbahul Haq and batsman Umar Akmal.
In an innings featuring two sixes and three fours, Misbah made 75 off 112 balls.
Umar Akmal followed with a late charge of 40 off 31 to help Pakistan set up a decent target of 230.
Earlier, Dwayne Bravo said he wanted his bowlers to make good use of the early moisture in the wicket. His Pakistani counterpart, Misbahul Haq believed the pitch would yield a healthy amount of runs but might prove to be slow earlier on.
The West Indies walked out on to the field with the same unit they played last Tuesday whereas Pakistan have brought in Junaid Khan and debutant batsman Haris Sohail to replace Asad Ali and Asad Shafiq, respectively.
West Indies: 1. Chris Gayle, 2. Johnson Charles (wk), 3. Darren Bravo, 4. Lendl Simmons, 5. Marlon Samuels, 6. Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7. Kieron Pollard, 8. Darren Sammy, 9. Kemar Roach, 10. Sunil Narine, 11. Jason Holder
Pakistan: 1. Nasir Jamshed, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez, 4. Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5. Haris Sohail, 6. Umar Akmal (wk), 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Wahab Riaz, 9. Junaid Khan, 10. Saeed Ajmal, 11. Mohammad Irfan
COMMENTS (26)
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@PAKhtoon: If that is the case then why Indians winning these days lot of matches and why pakistan looses lot of matches, as batting is not only a citeria to win match ! So you are defenitely wrong dear.
@Ch. Allah Daad: If this match was not fixed then no match was ever fixed. My sympathies with you and all Pakistanis who see a match-fixing ghost whenever Pakistan loses. The problem is that only the losers can fix a match.
@Cola: ""Even Indian cricket team under 19 can beat Pakistan in batting.""" so as our under19 can beat India in bowling. isn't it?
@ravi: had they been that "united" and "own people" it would not have come to forming Pakistan.
All of these Pakistani players perdorm in domestic but when they reach in international cricket,they are afraid of failure.Ahmed shahzad is perfect example of this,He is an exceptionally brilliant player but when he plays in international match, he is so much concerned about his place in the team that it restricts him from playing his natural aggressive game and also I think he is trying to follow Captain's and coache's advice which are wrong most of the time.
@Pepsi: yeah. you people thrashed us to the ground in earlier this year.I remember Sehwag, Kohli and Raina scoring double tons in ODI series. does that make you feel better? :)
Okay. I have seen the first innings of all the three ODIs. What I have seen is as follows: 1. Excellence in cricket in Pakistan as it existed during the days of Imran, Javed, Mustaq is dead. There is no one. Even near to it. 2. There is no will to win. Right from the first ball. You can see the body language. As a result extras are given. No running for ones and twos. No stopping the other side from taking ones and twos. Holding commented in the third ODI: 101 dot balls in 21 overs ie in 126 balls. 3. It follows that no effort is made to start dictating the bowler or the batsman or the match.
However Pakistan does produce very good talent. This talent has to be nurtured. One way is, since there is no international cricket in Pakistan PCB should send these cricketers to England, SA, India and Australia to play in league matches. Lets say they should sponsor 30 players. To play against different players, different pitches.
Role models are very important. PCB should make it a point that all greats of the past should regularly mix with the players. As coaches, commentators or just plain guests.
Otherwise Pakistan will start getting bracketed with WI, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
unbelievable! there was never a point in match when I thought we could loose until when Misbah handover last over to Wahab. Hafeez should have bowl, cause wahab tends to bowl couple of loose balls every over so it was a real bad call by Misbah.
My money on West Indies for next two games. Keep up the good job Pakistan.
shame on this bad performance by all millionaire players:((((((((((
@Pepsi: Yes dear we saw the full indiand in india
OHhhhhh they trashef us v badly
STill 30 matches a head...ohhhhh OHhhh
If Pakistan loss this series then players like Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Harris, Umar Amin and Asad bowler will be droped from next series. No one can drop senior players, this is real player power.
If this match was not fixed then no match was ever fixed.
Misbah might consistently score runs, but this defensive approach of scoring like turtles till the 40th over and then hitting out to barely reach 200-220 has got to stop. Pakistan can barely hold their own against a weak team filled with T20 specialists, and that too thanks to the lone efforts of Umar Akmal at the end of the innings.They are going to get hammered when they play teams with quality ( as they did in the champions trophy). Drop Misbah as captain and replace him with someone with aggression!!
What a shame. Unbelievable. How can you let this slip out of your hands. shame shame shame. W.Riaz should ask for a rest himself.
Sack Misbah as Captain! He has no clue. Gave the last over to the worst bowler in the playing eleven i.e. Wahab Riaz. Hafeez would have been the best choice or even Afridi. What incompetence.
afridi mathches played-350+ made 1 hafeez played 100+ made 14 harris sohail first game made 26
-gotta love our seniors
ahmad shezad is a really good fielder,i just hope his batiing improves-he really has potential but makes those silly mistakes and gives his wicket.should have gotten a 6 today but the commentataors said the wind was blowing in the other direction..please selectors dont drop him
Seeing WI and Pak batting is like watching two cripples fight!
Ireland has been producing more interesting matches then these two.
@Saleem: But isnt he like future captain for WC 2015?
How can you drop a captain!
@ hamid- whole of pakistan is erstwhile united india,thats why u r taking revenge with own people on daily basis.
Even Indian cricket team under 19 can beat pakistan in batting.
@hamid: So that only half of Indians defeat you in 2nd ODI.So if there are full of Indians in West Indies team, then they will trash your team to ground.
In last 10 ODI matches against test playing countries (Pakistan played Ireland & Scotland before Champions Trophy) Hafeez has scored 177 runs at pathetic average of of 17.7 and has taken 6 wickets. Does he justify his spot in the squad let alone Pak team? The answer is an emphatic No.
we should take revenge against India by defeating West Indies, since half of its name is India
Chasing a game requires mental strength. Pakistani teams lacks that.