You never really know what you are going to get from Pakistan and West Indies, and there was a lot of hype around the clash of these two highly unpredictable sides in the World Cup. In the end, it turned out to be a totally one-sided clash that lasted less than 36 Overs in total as West Indies strolled to a comfortable 7 wickets win in just 13.4 Overs of their innings.
Put into bat by West Indies, it started well enough for Pakistan. They did lose an out of sorts Imam for just 2 to Cottrell but Fakhar Zaman looked in total control early on with some nice shots off Jason Holder. However, the introduction of Andre Russell in the 6th over changed the game decisively. Pakistan batsmen had no answer to his quick, short pitched bowling, first Fakhar was bowled after the delivery ricocheted off his helmet, and then Haris Sohail edged another spicy delivery to Hope behind the stumps.
Babar Azam got a reprieve when Hetmyer shelled a catch at backward point but he couldn’t make the most of it and fell to a short and wide one from Oshane Thomas. Pakistan still had hope of putting up a good score as their 2 most experienced batsmen Sarfaraz and Hafeez were out there together.
However, the partnership didn’t last long as Sarfaraz gloved a short one down the leg side to Hope and that just started the procession. Imad was caught in no man’s land by a Holder bouncer and he could only edge it to Gayle in the slips, Shadab was hanging back expecting a bouncer but Thomas got him with a full straight one, and then Hasan Ali tried to pull one over Long Off for some reason and looped a catch to mid-off.
Last man standing Hafeez didn’t last for long and yet another bouncer from Thomas caught him in an awkward position, with the catch looping to long leg. Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir put together the biggest partnership of the innings to take the score to 3 figures, but that is all that they could do with a Thomas Yorker ending Wahab’s entertaining cameo. 105 is Pakistan’s 2nd lowest score in the World Cup and expectedly, the target proved far too short to trouble West Indies.
Chris Gayle scored an entertaining half century to continue his incredible run in 2019. Gayle now averages 94.8 in 5 innings in 2019 with a remarkable 42 sixes. One bright spot for Pakistan was Mohammad Amir with the ball who managed to pick 3 wickets and looked in good rhythm. Apart from that, it was an utterly forgettable day for them and one they would love to put behind them as soon as possible. Things don’t get any easier for them though as they next face England, a side that beat them 4-0 in the ODI series earlier this month.
