PAK v WI, 3rd ODI Review: Babar Azam's ton propels Pakistan to complete whitewash

Published - 06 Oct 2016, 00:43 IST | Updated - 06 Oct 2016, 00:43 IST

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21-year old Babar Azam has been a massive revelation in the context of the PAK v WI ODI series. Having smashed his third ton on the spin, Azam seems to be well on his way towards greatness. However, the 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series signifies something much more than just a win. Azhar Ali, the skipper and the coach Mickey Arthur will most certainly be relieved men following the win, despite the weak opposition of the West Indies.

Ali called the toss correctly and made the decision to bat first. The choice was clouded by the fact that the wicket was relatively dry with little or no assistance for the bowlers. In spite of this, many forecasted that dew in the evening would play a factor in the second half of the encounter.

Expected to get off to a good start, Azhar Ali and his opening partner Sharjeel Khan got Pakistan off to somewhat of a flier. Ali, who was seemingly on a bad luck trail made amends with some tremendous batting. As skipper of the side, it was most certainly the example he would have wanted to set. As for the Windies, they were in deep trouble as each time Azhar gets going, he invariably makes a big score.

Sharjeel Khan was at his devastating best before he was dismissed against the run of play by the wily Suleiman Benn. Enter Babar Azam. In each of the latter’s two ODI innings, he had smashed a century. More interestingly, each time Babar Azam had made his way out to the middle to have a bat, he looked absolutely invincible. He struck the ball like no other and more importantly, the security with which he batted gave Pakistan the confidence to allow Shoaib Malik to hit the showers early.

Also check out – Twitter Reactions: Babar, bowlers help Pakistan complete a 3-0 clean sweep

Along with skipper Azhar, Babar began to stitch a fine partnership. While Azhar’s poor run of form came to an end with a well-compiled century, the partnership of 147 runs was well and truly consummated by the performance by a century to the 21-year old Pakistan batsman. After both the batsmen fell, it was Sarfraz Ahmed who added the finishing touches to the team’s cause with an unbeaten and quickfire 24.

Chasing 309, the West Indies openers looked solid as ever. Although they were not able to get the ball away to the fence as often as they liked, their defenses looked unbreachable. However, with the run-rate piling up towards an astronomical figure, the batsmen were left with little or no choice but to chance their arm at every half-chance they received.

Needless to say, their batting ploy failed as they were called in their plans by the Pakistan pacers. The Pakistan bowlers, to the surprise of one and all, went on to bowl with a great deal of discipline, something that they are not generally associated with. Ironically, none of the bowlers went over 5 runs an over, something truly astonishing to say the least.

Kraigg Brathwaite (32) and Denesh Ramdin (37) were the only batsmen to show some sort of responsibility and intent whilst batting. Evin Lewis, also impressed with some solidity while batting.