Nail-biting finish: Wayward Riaz allows WI to draw third ODI

Needing 15 runs off the last over, tail-ender Jason Holder struck 12 runs to draw the match.

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