Pakistan storm into semifinals after crushing victory
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi led from the front again to inspire his team to a 10-wicket victory over West Indies in the first World Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.
Pakistan was set a target of 113 runs by the West Indies, who were earlier bowled out in 43.3 overs.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman to defy the Pakistan attack, scoring an unbeaten 44 from 106 balls.
Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal scored 61 and 47 runs, guiding Pakistan to a 10 wicket win in 20.5 over.
Pakistan will face the winners of Thursday's match between defending champions Australia and co-hosts India in the second semi-final in Mohali on March 30.
End of live updates
21st over
Roach bowling his sixth over.
Its over! Akmal smashes it away for four. Pakistan win by 10 wickets!!
Twitter Buzz:
20th over
Rampaul continues. Three runs and Pakistan have reached their 100.
Akmal gets four off the last ball of the over. Pakistan are 106/0.
19th over
Roach is bowling his fifth over. Kamran Akmal top edges one and it flies down legside for four!
Four runs from the over. Pakistan are 14 runs short of victory. The score is 99/0.
18th over
Looks like we spoke to soon. Hafeez smashes Rampaul for four and reaches his 50!
Another four from Hafeez!
Eight runs from the over. Pakistan are 95/0.
17th over
Kemar Roach back into the attack. Two runs from the over. Pakistan taking it slow now. Thew score is now 87/0.
16th over
Rampaul is back into the attack, bowling his third over. Maiden from Rampaul. Good comeback from Windies.
Pakistan are 85/0.
15th over
Sammy bowls the over. Four runs from it. Pakistan are 85/0, 28 runs short of the semi-final slot.
14th over
Bishoo bowling the over. Beautiful cut shot from Hafeez! Four for Pakistan.
Close one there, Hafeez edges one to first slip and the ball falls just short of Gayle.
Six runs from the over. Pakistan are 81/0.
13th over
Sammy now bowling his fourth over. Two runs from the over. Pakistan now require 38 runs to win from 222 balls. The score is now 75/0.
12th over
Bishoo bowling his fourth over. Hafeez smashes him over midwicket for four off the last ball of the over!
Pakistan are 73/0.
11th over
Sammy continues. Hafeez edges one down leg side for four!
Eight runs from the over. Pakistan are 66/0.
Tenth over
Bishoo continues. Hafeez smashes one down the ground. That one is saved right at the edge of boundary by Rampaul. Three runs for Pakistan.
Three from the over. Pakistan are 58/0.
Ninth over
Akmal, feeling like he's missing the party, smashes Sammay on the off-side for four on the first ball of the over.
Four from the over. Pakistan are 55/0.
Eighth over
Hafeez smashes Bishoo for four on the second ball of the over.
Hafeez cuts one, the fielder chases it to the boundary. Another four for Pakistan. Fifty up for Pakistan!
Eight off the the eighth over. Pakistan are 51/0.
Seventh over
Darren Sammy is into the attack now. Maiden from Sammy too. Pakistan still at 43/0.
Sixth over
Devendra Bishoo comes into the attack. West Indies trying to mix things up now. Maiden over! They'll have to do a lot more to slow Pakistan down. Pakistan are 43/0
Fifth over
Roach continues. Akmal smashes one away for four on the off-side.
Akmal pushes one on the on-side for three runs.
And the wicket keeper drops him! Hafeez tried to edge one away and the keeper drops it. Quick single.
Ten runs from the over. Pakistan are 43/0.
Fourth over
Four runs from the over. Pakistan are 33/0.
Twitter buzz:
Third over
Akmal lifts one and it passes straight through Pollard's hands for four Close one!
The commentator says the Windies body language is going 'down'.
Thats the over, five from it. Pakistan are 30/0.
Twitter buzz:
Second over
Rampaul is bowling the second over.
Kamran Akmal smahes two fours off the first two balls. Pakistan is on fire here.
Roach bowls a wide. West Indies are feeling the pressure now.
Four more from the last ball. Fourteen from the over. Pakistan are now 25/0
First over
And we're back with the live updates. Kemar Roach is bowling the first over. Hafeez and Akmal are opening.
Hafeez smashes one away for four on the second ball of the over.
Third ball, Hafeez plays one on the off side, almost makes it to the boundary there. Hafeez gets two runs.
Hafeez drives one straight down the ground for four.
Eleven runs from the first over. Pakistan are 11/0
Second innings resume
First innings scoreboard in the World Cup quarter-final between Pakistan and the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Wednesday.
Here's the first innings wrap-up:
West Indies:
D. Smith lbw b Hafeez 7
C. Gayle c Afridi b Gul 8
R. Sarwan c U. Akmal b Afridi 24
D. Bravo lbw b Hafeez 0
S. Chanderpaul not out 44
K. Pollard c K. Akmal b Afridi 1
D. Thomas lbw b Afridi 0 D. Sammy lbw b Ajmal 1
D. Bishoo b Ajmal 0
K. Roach c Younis b Razzak 16
R. Rampaul b Afridi 0
Extras: (lb2, w7, nb2) 11 Total: (all out, 43.3 overs) 112
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Gayle), 2-16 (Smith), 3-16 (Bravo), 4-58 (Sarwan), 5-69 (Pollard), 6-69 (Thomas), 7-71 (Sammy), 8-71 (Bishoo), 9-111 (Roach), 10-112 (Rampaul).
Bowling:
Gul 7-1-13-1
Hafeez 10-3-16-2 (w2)
Riaz 6-0-29-0 (w2, nb2)
Afridi 9.3-1-30-4 (w1)
Ajmal 8-1-18-2 (w1)
Razzak 3-1-4-1 (w1)
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbahul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz.
Toss: West Indies Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Steve Davis (AUS) TV umpire: Daryl Harper (AUS) Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
Twitter celebrations:
44th over
Afridi bowls to Chanderpaul and Rampaul (new man in).
And Rampaul's been bowled out by the skipper! It's all over for the Windies at 112 in 43.3 overs
43rd over
Razzaq bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
And Roach has been caught out by - wait - Younus Khan! Well done, butterfingers.
WI are now one wicket away from utter shame. 111/9
Twitter buzz:
42nd over
Afridi bowls to Roach (15) and Chanderpaul (43).
Good partnership, guys! 40 runs in 14.1 overs.
At the end of the over, WI are 111/8
41st over
Razzaq bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 107/8
40th over
Gul bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 104/8
39th over
And Razzaq's here! I almost forgot he was playing.
At the end of the over, WI are 103/8
38th over
Finally! Gul bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 101/8
Twitter update:
37th over
Riaz bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
Why are they not bringing in Gul and getting this over with? Frankly, I am not too impressed with him.
And that's a boundary! Roach hits a four and WI make their 100
Twitter buzz:
36th over
Hafeez to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 91/8
35th over
Wahab Riaz bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 90/8
Twitter update, "Pakistunned" is trending:
34th over
Hafeez bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 87/8
33rd over
Wahab Riaz bowls to Chanderpaul (26) and Roach (7).
At the end of the over, the Windies are 84/8
Twitter buzz:
32nd over
Ajmal bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
And Akmal misses a stumping opportunity! The Akmal curse has taken over. If I were Ajmal, I'd give him a piece of my mind.
At the end of the over, WI are 81/8
Twitter update:
31st over
Afridi bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul. Roach smacks a four!
At the end of the over, WI 80/8
30th over
Ajmal bowls to Roach and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, WI are 74/8.
Twitter update:
29th over
Afridi bowls to Chanderpaul and Kemar Roash (new man in).
At the end of the over, WI are 74/8
Here's the Twitter buzz:
28th over
Ajmal bowls to Sammy and Chanderpaul.
Catch dropped at slip by Younus Khan, Ajmal looks upset.
And that's an LBW! The Windies skipper Sammy is out and their batting order is crumbling.
WI are 71/7
New man in is Devendra Bishoo.
And Ajmal bowls Bishoo out! What is going on? The Greens are unbelievable today (or are the Windies just terrible?)
Here's a fact: WI lowest total in a World Cup has been 98. Are we going to break that?
At the end of this remarkable over, the Windies are 71/8
27th over
Afridi bowls to Pollard and Chanderpaul.
And Pollard is out! Caught behind by Kamran AKmal! The Windies are looking terribly shoddy.
Windies are 69/5
New man in Devon Thomas.
And he's been given an LBW! Afridi is looking at a hat trick. Come on skipper.
And the Windies captain Darren Sammy has come to the crease. No hat trick for Boom Boom, but his total wicket score this tournament looks impressive.
At the end of a fantastic over (for the Greens), the Windies are 70/6
26th over
Ajmal bowls to Pollard and Chanderpaul.
And that's a lovely six whacked by Chanderpaul! He's made 20 runs in 56 deliveries. That's the first six this match.
At the end of the over, Windies are 60/4
Twitter buzz:
25th over
Afridi bowls to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
And Sarwan is caught out by Umar Akmal! Big wicket for Pakistan.
New man in is Kieron Pollard.
Pollard's off the mark after a single.
At the end of the over, Windies are 60/4
24th over
Ajmal bowls to Smith and Chanderpaul.
23rd over
Afridi bowls to Sarwan (19) and Chanderpaul (13).
At the end of the over, Windies are 55/3
Twitter update:
MuhYusufKhanOMG!!! Saeed Ajmal bowling at a low economy rate. Let's bowl him out before they get going.
22nd over
Ajmal bowls to Smith and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, Windies are 52/3
21st over
Afridi bowls to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, Windies are 50/3
Twitter update:
20th over
Ajmal bowls to Sarwan (17) and Chanderpaul (9).
Two runs on the second delivery.
At the end of the over, Windies are 47/3
19th over
Afridi bowls to Smith and Chanderpaul.
Oh and Gul drops a catch near the boundary! Afridi will be upset, Gul stretched and just about touched the ball.
At the end of the over, Windies are 44/3
18th over
Spinner Saeed Ajmal bowls to Smith and Chanderpaul. "Pressure must be on Ajmal who has replaced a wicket taking bowler like Rehman in such an important match," says Ramiz Raja.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 39/3.
Twitter buzz:
17th over
Boom Boom Afridi bowls the over to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
And a loud shout by the skipper for an LBW. Umpire isn't interested, original decision not out is challenged by the bowler. Cricinfo says "This seems like a ridicuous review for lbw" in their live commentary. Twitterati question Afridi's "selfishness" regarding review.
And the original decision stands.
And he appeals for LBW again on the next delivery! Umpire Bowden is not interested.
Maiden over by the skipper, Windies are 38/3
Twitter update:
16th over
Hafeez bowls to Sarwan (14) and Chanderpaul (4).
At the end of the over, Windies are 38/3
15th over
Wahab Riaz bowls the over to Sarwan and Chanderpaul. The commentators say Umar Gul is off the field but are unsure what the problem is. We need you back to shake those stumps Gully!
Free hit for Sarwan after no ball bowled. Let's brace ourselves for a boundary?
And he didn't manage.
At the end of the over, Windies are 36/3.
Here's a Twitter update:
14th over
Hafeez bowls the over the Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
Maiden over by Hafeez! This is good stuff.
At the end of the over, Windies are 32/3
Here's some Twittercism for Riaz:
13th over
Wahab Riaz bowls to Sarwan (4) and Chanderpaul (2). Single on second delivery.
And a poor ball by Riaz is whacked away to the boundary for a four by Sarwan.
Riaz looks diappointed.
And Sarwan whacks another four! "Sarwan is very, very strong there," says Wasim Akram.
And a wide bowled by Riaz! Expensive over for the fast bowler.
Good delivery follows, no run taken.
At the end of the over, Windies are 32/3
12th over
Hafeez bowls to Smith and Chanderpaul. Single taken. Wide bowled by Hafeez. Another single.
At the end of the over, Windies are 22/3
Twitter update:
11th over
Wahab Riaz bowls the over to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
Powerplay 2 is in progress. Two dot balls bowled by the fast bowler.
And another one.
And they take a run. there's an over throw as Afridi hits the stumps with the ball but Chanderpaul is happy with one.
At the end of the over, Windies are 19/3
10th over
Hafeez bowls the over to Sarwan (2) and Chanderpaul (2).
No runs in first five deliveries, Hafeez is bowling very well.
And another maiden! The Windies are definitely intimidated. And who wouldn't be? Pakistan's bowling attack is fierce!
At the end of the over, Windies are 18/3
Ninth over
Gul bowls to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
And a maiden bowled by Gul!
Windies are 18/3 at the end of the over
Eighth over
Hafeez bowls to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, Windies are 18/3
Seventh over
Gul bowls to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
At the end of the over, Windies are 17/3
Sixth over
Hafeez bowls to Smith and Sarwan.
And Smith given an LBW by umpire! Go team Pakistan! You're on fire. New man on the crease is Darren Bravo.
And another LBW! Is Bravo going to go? The umpire says yes but the decision is reviewed by the Windies. And that is another wicket! The on field call stands.
And that's a double wicket maiden!
The Windies are wobbling at 16/3
Fifth over
Gul bowls to Smith (7) and Sarwan (0).
Appeal for caught behind but the umpire is not too sure the ball touched the bat. No review requested.
At the end of the over, Pakistan are 16/2
Fourth over
Hafeez bowls to Smith and Sarwan.
No runs of the first three deliveries. Single of the fourth ball.
The match pauses for a while, Ramiz Raja says he doesn't know what's going but speculated that the bails have been broken. The umpire Billy Bowden holds the broken bails in his hands as Raja says "He is a muscular man," adding that the umpire could not have broken them.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 15/1
Here's the Twitter buzz:
Third over
Gul bowls to Smith and Gayle. First delivery is a dot ball, single taken on the next.
And Gayle whacks another four! "Chris Gayle has announced himself," says Ramiz Raja.
And Chris Gayle has been caught out thanks to skipper Afridi!
What a big wicket for the greens. Fantastic bowling by Gul!
Ramnaresh Sarwan is the new man on the crease.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 14/1
Second over
Mohammed Hafeez bowls to Smith and Gayle.
Gayle clears the ball away for a four! The runs are piling up early in the innings.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 9/0
First over
Fast bowler Umar Gul bowls the over to Devon Smith and Chris Gayle. And the first ball is cleared to the boundary for four by Smith!
No more runs taken.
At the end of the over, the Windies are 4/0
Here's the squad courtesy cricinfo:
Pakistan:
Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal
West Indies:
DS Smith, CH Gayle, RR Sarwan, DM Bravo, KA Pollard, DC Thomas, DJG Sammy, D Bishoo, R Rampaul, S Chanderpaul, KAJ Roach
In its report Pakistan mull including Ajmal, cricinfo writes:
The decision will not be an easy one. If Ajmal does play, he is likely to do so in place of Abdur Rehman.
The left-arm spinner has played a quiet but significant role in Pakistan's campaign so far, opening the bowling in two of their last three games; though he has only three wickets in five games, he has been crucial in stifling opposition run-rates.
Pakistan are Group A toppers with wins over Sri Lanka and Australia, and a defeat against New Zealand.
West Indies have lost the last two matches against England and India and are here as the fourth-placed team from group B, edging out Bangladesh on net run-rate.
According to a Reuters report, to combat the pre-match favourites, West Indies plan to recall Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach after injury and illness while the obdurate Shivnarine Chanderpaul is expected to return to the middle order.
Gayle can make a mockery of any bowling attack with his reach and his power while Roach is fast and hostile in the best traditions of the great Barbados fast bowlers.
Here's the Twitter buzz: