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FOLLOWING their embarrassing 126-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the first One Day International at the Guyana National Stadium last Sunday, the Dwayne Bravo-led West Indies team rebounded to defeat the Pakistanis by 37 runs in the second match at the same venue yesterday. Asked to bat first in heavy overcast conditions, the home team fared better with the bat this time around, following their mediocre performance in the first match which saw them dismissed for 98, to score 232 for 9 from their 50 overs.
This was due largely to Darren Bravo’s patient 54, his brother Dwayne’s resilient unbeaten 43, 31 from Johnson Charles and 30 from Kieron Pollard in the face of some disciplined bowling by the Pakistanis, for whom Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal took 2 wickets each for 29 and 45 runs respectively.
When the visitors, who are observing the Holy month of Ramadan began their reply, they were met by more disciplined bowling from speedsters Kemar Roach and Jason Holder, backed by some mesmerising spin from man-of-the-match Sunil Narine (4 for 26), and were bowled out for 195 from 47.5 overs.
Nasir Jamshed got four chances in his 54 while Umar Akmal took 46 balls to record his even half-century, as Dwayne Bravo, who give Jamshed his first life before he had scored when stationed at second slip off a thick outside edge from Holder, took 2 for 9 to support Narine.
Scores in the match: West Indies 232 for 9, Pakistan 195 all out off 47.5 overs.
Once again, Mohammed Irfan proved to be an early tormentor for the Windies, when he got one to hold its line on the way to brushing Christopher Gayle’s outside edge, as the Windies lost their talismanic opener off the final delivery of the first over, with only 2 runs on the tins.
Darren Bravo joined Charles and they rebuilt the team’s innings, adding 79 for the second wicket, with the younger Bravo punching Asad Ali through point for four, which was followed by another four, this time off the bat of Charles at the end of the same over, the 4th of the Windies innings.
Two more fours by Darren Bravo which came off Irfan’s bowling, followed by a six that Charles struck back over long-on off Ajmal, pushed the West Indies to 49 for 1, before Wahab Riaz sprayed his first delivery wide to realise the 50 from 10 overs, at which point the heavens opened and forced the players off the field for 43 minutes.
On the resumption of play, the West Indies saw Bravo steer Irfan to third man for four, before he lost Charles, who was smartly stumped by Umar Akmal off Afridi after facing 51 deliveries and hitting three fours and one six in his 31.
Enter a nervous-looking Marlon Samuels and he saw Darren Bravo post his 50 from 72 deliveries with six fours, before the left-handed Trinidad and Tobago batsman was bowled by a straight delivery from Ajmal.
At the younger Bravo’s demise, the West Indies were 123 for 3 in the 33rd over, which became 150 for 5, five overs later, as Samuels went in similar fashion to Darren Bravo for 21 (1×4, 64 balls) along with Simmons who was caught by Akmal off Afridi for 10.
Prior to this contest, Kieron Pollard was struggling with the bat for the Digicel-sponsored Windies and he shrugged off his sluggishness by posting 70 for the sixth wicket with his skipper Dwayne Bravo.
Pollard struck Riaz for a 6 and a 4 in one over, with Bravo hitting the final delivery of that said over for a four as well, prior to hitting both Ajmal and Irfan for boundaries, as the West Indies, whose 100 was raised in the 27th over and 150 in the 39th reached the 200-run mark off 46.4 overs.
Despite losing the wickets of Pollard who was bowled by Ali for 30 and Darren Sammy (3) and Kemar Roach (0) who were both run-out, courtesy of some smart fielding from Akmal, the home team reached their final total, with Bravo hitting the penultimate delivery for 4, while Narine was unbeaten on 1.
Roach sent down four successive maidens from the Media Centre End, while Holder, who had a career-best 4 for 8 in the first match, kept things tighter at the other end, giving away 6 wides as Pakistan reached 11 without loss of 7 overs with both of their openers yet to score.
The West Indies should have removed Jamshed, but Dwayne Bravo juggled the offer four times before grassing the ball, following which both Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad struck Roach and Holder for sixes over midwicket.
They added 37 for the first wicket, before Shehzad was caught by Charles off Roach in the 11th over, after posting 19 from 33 balls with one four and a maximum.
Enter Mohammed Hafeez, who opened his account with a sweetly-timed four through point off Narine, his soon-to-be Amazon Warriors teammate, which was followed by two more fours off Sammy, before he picked out Simmons at long-on off Narine, Pakistan 64 for 2.
That should have been 93 for 3, had Gayle held a catch at mid-on that was offered by Jamshed who got a leading edge off Samuels in the 26th over, but the Windies had many reasons to smile. Sammy, who was competing in his 100th ODI rattled the stumps of Misbah-ul-Haq for 17 (2×4) two overs later.
Jamshed reached his 50 with his third four, struck over mid-on off Sammy, after being mis-stumped by Charles, this time off Samuels when on 46, at 117 for 3 in the 32nd over.
The home team watched as Pakistan slipped to 151 for 6, as they lost Asad Shafiq (10), Jamshed for his 54 (93 balls, 4×4; 1×6) and the dangerous Afridi who was brilliantly stumped by Charles off Narine for 5.
As the wickets tumbled at the other end, Akmal threw all caution to the wind and got to his half-century when he struck Pollard for a hat-trick of boundaries off successive deliveries in the 47th over, followed by a six over midwicket off Bravo one over later.
That was the last hurrah for the Pakistanis, as Dwayne Bravo, who was operating from the Pavilion End and with the sounds of ‘We want Roach’ coming from the partisan crowd, dismissed both Akmal and Irfan to catches in the deep to seal the win and start the third match in St Lucia on Friday, on a hat-trick.
This was due largely to Darren Bravo’s patient 54, his brother Dwayne’s resilient unbeaten 43, 31 from Johnson Charles and 30 from Kieron Pollard in the face of some disciplined bowling by the Pakistanis, for whom Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal took 2 wickets each for 29 and 45 runs respectively.
When the visitors, who are observing the Holy month of Ramadan began their reply, they were met by more disciplined bowling from speedsters Kemar Roach and Jason Holder, backed by some mesmerising spin from man-of-the-match Sunil Narine (4 for 26), and were bowled out for 195 from 47.5 overs.
Nasir Jamshed got four chances in his 54 while Umar Akmal took 46 balls to record his even half-century, as Dwayne Bravo, who give Jamshed his first life before he had scored when stationed at second slip off a thick outside edge from Holder, took 2 for 9 to support Narine.
Scores in the match: West Indies 232 for 9, Pakistan 195 all out off 47.5 overs.
Once again, Mohammed Irfan proved to be an early tormentor for the Windies, when he got one to hold its line on the way to brushing Christopher Gayle’s outside edge, as the Windies lost their talismanic opener off the final delivery of the first over, with only 2 runs on the tins.
Darren Bravo joined Charles and they rebuilt the team’s innings, adding 79 for the second wicket, with the younger Bravo punching Asad Ali through point for four, which was followed by another four, this time off the bat of Charles at the end of the same over, the 4th of the Windies innings.
Two more fours by Darren Bravo which came off Irfan’s bowling, followed by a six that Charles struck back over long-on off Ajmal, pushed the West Indies to 49 for 1, before Wahab Riaz sprayed his first delivery wide to realise the 50 from 10 overs, at which point the heavens opened and forced the players off the field for 43 minutes.
On the resumption of play, the West Indies saw Bravo steer Irfan to third man for four, before he lost Charles, who was smartly stumped by Umar Akmal off Afridi after facing 51 deliveries and hitting three fours and one six in his 31.
Enter a nervous-looking Marlon Samuels and he saw Darren Bravo post his 50 from 72 deliveries with six fours, before the left-handed Trinidad and Tobago batsman was bowled by a straight delivery from Ajmal.
At the younger Bravo’s demise, the West Indies were 123 for 3 in the 33rd over, which became 150 for 5, five overs later, as Samuels went in similar fashion to Darren Bravo for 21 (1×4, 64 balls) along with Simmons who was caught by Akmal off Afridi for 10.
Prior to this contest, Kieron Pollard was struggling with the bat for the Digicel-sponsored Windies and he shrugged off his sluggishness by posting 70 for the sixth wicket with his skipper Dwayne Bravo.
Pollard struck Riaz for a 6 and a 4 in one over, with Bravo hitting the final delivery of that said over for a four as well, prior to hitting both Ajmal and Irfan for boundaries, as the West Indies, whose 100 was raised in the 27th over and 150 in the 39th reached the 200-run mark off 46.4 overs.
Despite losing the wickets of Pollard who was bowled by Ali for 30 and Darren Sammy (3) and Kemar Roach (0) who were both run-out, courtesy of some smart fielding from Akmal, the home team reached their final total, with Bravo hitting the penultimate delivery for 4, while Narine was unbeaten on 1.
Roach sent down four successive maidens from the Media Centre End, while Holder, who had a career-best 4 for 8 in the first match, kept things tighter at the other end, giving away 6 wides as Pakistan reached 11 without loss of 7 overs with both of their openers yet to score.
The West Indies should have removed Jamshed, but Dwayne Bravo juggled the offer four times before grassing the ball, following which both Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad struck Roach and Holder for sixes over midwicket.
They added 37 for the first wicket, before Shehzad was caught by Charles off Roach in the 11th over, after posting 19 from 33 balls with one four and a maximum.
Enter Mohammed Hafeez, who opened his account with a sweetly-timed four through point off Narine, his soon-to-be Amazon Warriors teammate, which was followed by two more fours off Sammy, before he picked out Simmons at long-on off Narine, Pakistan 64 for 2.
That should have been 93 for 3, had Gayle held a catch at mid-on that was offered by Jamshed who got a leading edge off Samuels in the 26th over, but the Windies had many reasons to smile. Sammy, who was competing in his 100th ODI rattled the stumps of Misbah-ul-Haq for 17 (2×4) two overs later.
Jamshed reached his 50 with his third four, struck over mid-on off Sammy, after being mis-stumped by Charles, this time off Samuels when on 46, at 117 for 3 in the 32nd over.
The home team watched as Pakistan slipped to 151 for 6, as they lost Asad Shafiq (10), Jamshed for his 54 (93 balls, 4×4; 1×6) and the dangerous Afridi who was brilliantly stumped by Charles off Narine for 5.
As the wickets tumbled at the other end, Akmal threw all caution to the wind and got to his half-century when he struck Pollard for a hat-trick of boundaries off successive deliveries in the 47th over, followed by a six over midwicket off Bravo one over later.
That was the last hurrah for the Pakistanis, as Dwayne Bravo, who was operating from the Pavilion End and with the sounds of ‘We want Roach’ coming from the partisan crowd, dismissed both Akmal and Irfan to catches in the deep to seal the win and start the third match in St Lucia on Friday, on a hat-trick.
WEST INDIES innings
C. Gayle c U. Akmal b Irfan 1
J. Charles stp. Akmal b Afridi 31
DM Bravo b Ajmal 54
M. Samuels b Ajmal 21
L. Simmons c Akmal b Afridi 10
DJ Bravo not out 43
K. Pollard b Ali 30
D. Sammy run-out (Akmal) 3
K. Roach run-out (Akmal) 0
S. Narine not out 1
Extras: (lb-5, b-11, w-21, nb-1) 38
Total: (for 8 wickets, off 50 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-81, 3-123, 4-137, 5-150, 6-220, 7-225, 8-226.
Bowling: Irfan 10-0-38-1 (nb-1, w-2), Ali 6-1-35-1 (w-2), Ajmal 10-0-45-2 (w-4), Hafeez 7-0-32-0, Riaz 7-0-37-0 (w-3), Afridi 10-0-29-2 (w-1).
PAKISTAN innings
N. Jamshed c Roach b Pollard 54
A. Shehzad c wkp. Charles b Roach 19
M. Hafeez c Simmons b Roach 20
Misbah ul Haq b Sammy 17
A. Shafiq c Holder b Samuels 10
U. Akmal c Samuels b DJ Bravo 50
S. Afridi stp. Charles b Narine 5
W. Riaz b Narine 3
S. Ajmal c Sammy b Narine 1
A. Ali c Pollard b DJ Bravo 2
M. Irfan not out 0
Extras: (w-11, lb-3) 14
Total (all out off 47.5 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-64, 3-103, 4-122, 5-137, 6-151, 7-162, 8-164, 9-195.
Bowling: Roach 6-4-14-1, Holder 7-2-30-0 (w-3), Narine 10-1-26-4 (w=1), Sammy 10-0-46-1 (w-1), Samuels 7-0-32-1 (w=2), Pollard 6-0-35-1, DJ Bravo 1.5-0-9-2.
