PAK v WI, 2nd T20I Review: Pakistan registers an easy win to pocket the series

Pakistan continued their domination over West Indies after they registered a simple 23 run win in the 2nd T20I at the DSC Stadium, Dubai to clinch the three-match series comfortably.

Pakistan, after being put into bat first but Carlos Braithwaite, posted a challenging 161 runs target after recovering from a sluggish start with the help of sturdy knocks from skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and veteran Shoaib Malik.

West Indies, in response, showed a very lethargic batting approach and could muster only 144 to lose the game by 23 runs. The Pakistanis bowlers continued from where they left last night and produced an inspiring bowling performance to enable their team to win the game pretty easily.

Pakistan had to face an early setback in the form of Sharjeel Khan who lost his wicket to Samuel Badree getting clean bowled for just two runs. Khalid Latif and Babar Azam began the rebuilding work from here on and kept the run flow intact.

The duo added runs at a quick rate making things look very positive for the Men in Green. Both added 54 runs for the second wicket in just 5.5 overs before Windies pulled back things in their favour a bit during the half-way stage of the game.

Both of the well-set batsmen lost their wickets in quick successions. Skipper Craig Braithwaite intervened at the right time and got rid of Babar Azam in the 9th over. A couple of overs later, Pakistan inflicted a serious blow when Latif was run out by the Fletcher – Lewis combination.

The Windies suddenly saw some opportunity of gaining an upper hand. But, luckily for Pakistan, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik held things together and made sure their innings did not crumble. Both played smartly and teed off quick runs adding 69 runs for the 4th wicket at a quick rate of 9 runs per over to take Pakistan to a respectable position.

The West Indies bowling complete lacked intent in the final overs and it seemed that bowled just to through the overs quickly. The ineffective approach from the Windies bowlers gave Ahmed and Malik a chance to flourish and both made full use of it.

It seemed like skipper Braithwaite was out of bowling options. Badree looked troublesome but was effectively played out, Narine was promptly neutered while the fast bowlers were impressive but simply couldn’t pick wicket to apply enough pressure to make the Pakistanis falter.

The target was a tricky one and After a few overs into the second innings, it was clearly evident that the West Indies was not prepared to chase the total down. It was just a night ago that the Pakistanis broke their batting order to pieces and clinched an easy win. But, it seemed that the visitors did not learn anything from their humiliation.

The start was somewhat identical to what they had yesterday. They lost their openers Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis in the back to back overs at the start.

Also read – Pakistan v West Indies, 2nd T20I: 5 Talking Points

It was Imad Wasim who snapped the first wicket for Pakistan, making Johnson depart in the 3rd over of the innings. Lewis also threw his wicket away in the following over while trying to drive an away swinger from Sohail Tanvir only to gift a healthy edge to the wicket keeper and become the left arm fast bowler’s 50th T20I victim.

An over later, Tanvir added one more wicket to his credit after Marlon Samuels lost his wicket in a similar fashion of that of Lewis edging one to Sarfraz behind the wickets.

Dwayne Bravo and Andre Fletcher then tried to battle it out in the middle but couldn’t really jet off. Sarfraz rotated his bowler smartly and kept a tight grip over the proceedings not allowing the Windies batsmen any breathing space.

Samuels and Fletcher batted together till the halfway stage of the match to forge a small 26 run stand before Bravo was removed by an arm ball by Mohammad Nawaz.

West Indies continued huffing and puffing through the overs before Hasan Ali burst into the scene with a double-wicket over. The right arm fast bowler virtually putting an end to the match adding Fletcher and Pollard to his tally in one single over and reduce the opposition to 83/6. The equation further degraded and West Indies were reduced to 89/7 after Nicholas Pooran lost his wicket an over later.

At one stage, getting past the three-figure mark looked like a tough job. But, when all seemed over and the rest of the game looked like a formality for Pakistan, Sunil Narine came up with an attacking cameo and entertained the crowd to some extent.

Narine hoicked the ball for a series of boundaries and sixes and hit an entertaining 30 from just 17 balls. It was courtesy to his last moment cameo that West Indies could at least narrow the losing margin. But, unfortunately, that was never going to be enough as West Indies eventually fell short of the target.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan: 160/4 in 20 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 46; Samuel Badree 1/24)

West Indies: 144/9 all out (Sunil Narine 30; Sohail Tanvir 3/13)

Man of the Match: Sarfaraz Ahmed