Pakistan cricket team win's one by one with wonderful games, is Pakistan ready to be no 1 in ODI & T20 too?
Pak clinch series 2-0:
Another clinical performance from the hosts. Some brilliant
batting by young Babar Azam, the experienced Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed,
followed by some disciplined bowling, shoddy dropped catches but three stunning
run-outs. Azam (123) and Malik (90) laid the platform with a record third-wicket
stand and Sarfraz (60 not out) added the fireworks towards the fag end to take
the hosts to a mammoth 337 from their allotted overs.
338 wasn't going to be easy for the team who had so far
struggled to adopt to the spin-friendly conditions of the UAE. But this time
the Caribbean side had their bowling to blame for all the extra runs they
splurged.
Azam struck a chanceless century, his second successive one,
and Malik blitzed 90 as the pair strung together 169, Pakistan's highest stand
for the third wicket against West Indies. In reply, West Indies found the chase
too steep and could only manage 278 for 7.
Openers Azhar Ali and Sharjeel Khan put West Indies under
pressure from the outset after Pakistan opted to bat. Sharjeel used his bottom
hand to clear the infield regularly, collecting three fours and a six in his
12-ball 24 before West Indies hit back, removing both batsmen in the space of
three balls.
Thereafter, Azam and Malik stalled West Indies with sound
technique and calculated risks. Azam pierced the field while Malik went over
it, both equally effective in collecting frequent boundaries and keeping the
score moving. Sulieman Benn's introduction was delayed, but Malik capitalised
on the bowler's modus operandi of flight and loop from around the wicket.
Malik struck five sixes off Benn - three in succession in
the 27th over - by shimmying down, getting underneath the ball and going over
the arc between long-on and midwicket. The period between overs 21 and 35
yielded 107 in conditions not suited to effortless run-scoring.
In between, Azam unfurled classy drives through cover and
found gaps in the outfield to accumulate runs. After Malik carved one to point,
Azam utilised Pakistan's strong platform. His 126-ball 123 included nine fours
and a six, which indicated his ability to maintain a high strike rate through
ones and twos. Neither Malik nor Azam offered even a "half-chance"
until their dismissals.
Given the potential of this West Indies side's batting unit,
338 was tough but not impossible. Samuels and Bravo however were the only ones
who could convert their starts, even though it didn't prove enough. Holder
chipped in with an unbeaten 31 towards the end but his team fell well short.
Having clinched the series though, in the end, Pakistan
would probably not mind those extra runs leaked with their sub-par fielding but
that's definitely an area that needs massive improvement, as Azhar Ali admitted
in the post-match presentation.
Babar Azam picked up the second consecutive Man of the Match
award.
So that's how things stand. Pakistan have 2-0 unassailable
lead in the series and 5-0 on this tour overall, having also swept the
prece
ding three-match T20I series. West Indies will have a lot of soul
searching to do.
In response, Darren Bravo (61) and Kraigg Brathwaite (39)
tried to give their side the momentum with a 89 run stand for the second
wicket. But with Brathwaite’s dismissal, that continuity was lost.
Marlon Samuels tried to give some edge to the West Indies
batting with a 57 but in the end, it was for a lost cause.
