1st T20I: Five-star Imad Wasim leads Pakistan's rout of Windies
Imad Wasim became first Pakistani spinner to bag a five-for in T20Is. PHOTO: AFP
Chasing a low target of 116 runs, Pakistan never looked under par against the World T20 champions and easily walked past the finish line with 34 balls and nine wickets to spare.
Babar Azam scored unbeaten 55 off 37 balls while Khalid Latif was unbeaten on 34 off 32.
Samuel Badree was the only bowler to bag a wicket for the Windies when he bowled Sharjeel Khan (22 off 18) in the fourth over.
Earlier, Pakistan restricted West Indies to 115 after opting to bowl first.
Imad proved his captain Sarfraz Ahmed right as he dismissed three batsmen quickly off his left-arm spin.
Other bowlers then chipped in but Imad came back for his second spell and bagged two more scalps to become the first Pakistani spinner to account for five batsmen in a T20I match. He ended his four-over quota with five wickets for only 14 runs.
At one point, the visitors were eight down for only 48 runs but Dwayne Bravo (55) and Jerome Taylor (21) combined to score 66 runs for the ninth wicket (the highest score by any pair at number nine in T20Is).
Sohail Tanvir was the second most successful bowler for Pakistan with two wickets.
Man-of-the-match Imad Wasim: I just go out there and give my 100%, rest is in the hand of Almighty. I just focus on the batsman and stick to the captain's plan to bowl wicket to wicket.
Carlos Brathwaite: Not a great start. We need to change our plans. These things can happen. We didn't come to party. We will come out tomorrow and try to make the Windies people proud. We fought hard but we will try to come out tomorrow and put up a better performance. It [the weather] is not going to change but we can, we have to cope with it.
Sarfraz Ahmed: Credit goes to players. Everyone is working hard. Fielding is important, body language is important. We are motivating them. We try to get early wickets with Imad, other bowlers also helped. We are trying to play attacking cricket. We know if we take wickets, then only we can win.
Teams
Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali
West Indies: Evin Lewis, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher(w), Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite(c), Sunil Narine, Jerome Taylor, Samuel Badree
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Over 14.2: PAK 116-1
Over 14: PAK 108-1
Over 13: PAK 97-1
Dwayne Bravo with his slower ones again.
Over 12: PAK 86-1
Six runs off his over.
Over 11: PAK 80-1
Nine runs off his over courtesy this.
Sunil Narine.
Over 10: PAK 71-1
Eight runs off the over courtesy a boundary by Babar Azam.
Over 9: PAK 63-1
Carnage in his over. Three SIXES from Babar Azam and it all started with this.
Over 8: PAK 44-1
Only four off the over.
Over 7: PAK 40-1
Only two off his over.
Over 6: PAK 38-1
Over 5: PAK 33-1
Five runs off the over.
Over 4: PAK 28-1
Badree strikes!
FOUR and a SIX by Shareel Khan.
Over 3: PAK 16-0
Only a single off the over.
Over 2: PAK 15-0
Over 1: PAK 6-0
Samuel Badree has the new ball. Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif will open the chase for Pakistan.
Over 19.5: WI 115 all out
Over 19: WI 112-8
Over 18: WI 101-8
Three runs off the over.
Over 17: WI 98-8
Eight runs off the over courtesy a FOUR by Taylor.
Over 16: WI 90-8
Three boundaries by Bravo off the over.
Over 15: WI 71-8
Sohail Tanvir gets hit for a SIX and a FOUR by Bravo.
Over 14: WI 58-8
Two runs off Wahab's second over.
Wahab Riaz to continue.
Over 13: WI 56-8
Eight runs off Nawaz's over.
SIX! Jerome Taylor hits West Indies first six of the innings.
Mohammad Nawaz to start his last over of the day.
Meanwhile, Islamabad United coach and former Australian batsman Dean Jones is full of praise for Imad Wasim.
Over 12: WI 48-8
A maiden from Wahab Riaz in his first over.
RUN OUT! Sunil Narine departs without scoring.
Finally we are going to see some action from Wahab Riaz, who will start his first over of the day in the 12th over of the innings.
Over 11: WI 48-7
Just two runs and two wickets off Imad's last over.
Imad Wasim becomes the first Pakistani spinner to take five wickets in a T20I match. What an achievement for this young man.
OUT! Fifer for Imad as captain Carlos Brathwaite departs without scoring.
OUT! Another arm-ball, and another wicket for Imad. He is simply on fire today. Four for him now. Can he get a five-for?
Imad to start his last over.
Over 10: WI 46-5
Just three off Nawaz's third over.
Nawaz to start his third over of the day.
Over 9: WI 43-5
Four off Imad's third over.
Imad Wasim to start his third over of the day.
Over 8: WI 39-5
Nine runs off Hasan's second over, a good one for West Indies.
FOUR! Short and Bravo pulled it over deep mid wicket for a boundary. A welcome one for the visitors.
Hasan Ali to start his second over of the day.
Over 7: WI 30-5
Just five off Malik's first over.
So more spin from Pakistan, as part-timer Shoaib Malik is ready to start his first over of the day.
Over 6: WI 25-5
Just three off Nawaz's second over.
Mohammad Nawaz to start his second over of the day.
Over 5: WI 22-5
Just four and a wicket off Hasan Ali's first over.
OUT! Hasan Ali gets his first wicket as well. It seems all too easy for the Men in Green, as three out of four bowlers has already picked a wicket in his first over of the day.
Hasan Ali to start his first of the match.
Over 4: WI 18-4
Just three and wicket off Nawaz's first over.
BOWLED! This time it's Nawaz, who gets his first wicket of the day. Charles departs after scoring just seven off seven balls.
After seeing the success of Imad Wasim, captain Sarfraz brought in Mohammad Nawaz to bowl his first over of the innings.
Over 3: WI 15-3
Just four runs and two wickets off the over. A brilliant start for Pakistan.
OUT! Imad strikes again as Marlon Samuel departs. This young man is on fire.
FOUR! Short and Samuel cuts one through cover region for second boundary of the West Indies innings.
BOWLED! Imad gets his second wicket as Fletcher departs.
Imad to continue.
Over 2: WI 11-1
Eight runs off Tanvir's first over.
FOUR! First boundary of the innings from Charles.
Sohail Tavir to start his first over of the day.
Over 1: WI 3-1
Three runs and a wicket off the first over.
OUT! Full pitch and Evin tried to sweep one out of the park, but was caught at the boundary. Imad Wasim picked first wicket of the series.
It's Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis to start for West Indies.
So Imad Wasim is about to start for Pakistan.
This is how Pakistan ended their last T20I. More of the same to follow today?
Toss
Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bowl first.