Pakistan v West Indies, 3rd ODI Review - Shoaib Malik seals the series for Pakistan with a six

We witnessed a thrilling three-match series over the past week and seen a good contest between bat and ball, wherein the first game, Jason Mohammed played the innings of his life and helped West Indies to go one up. Pakistan fought back in the second match by a clinical bowling performance, and today Pakistan again had too much firepower and managed to upstage West Indies in the decider game and take an unassailable lead by winning the series 2-1.

It was West Indies captain who won the crucial toss in the decider and chose to bat first as he knew that as the game will progress the pitch will slow down a bit and would be difficult to bat in second innings. West Indies made one change to their side as they included Veerasammy Permaul in place of Shannon Gabriel. On the other hand, Pakistan sticks to their same squad.

It was very important for West Indies to put up a good total on board as pressure was slightly more on the hosts than Pakistan as a victory will not only give them a series win but also better their chances of achieving an automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup.

To make this happen, In walked the opening pair Evin Lewis and Chadwick Walton who couldn’t give the much important start to West Indies as they lost Even Lewis for a score of 16 in 7^th over. Chadwick Walton followed his partner as he got out in the very next over making things more difficult for the host. After losing Chadwick for 19, Kieran Powell made his way out to the middle and showed a brief resistance before he got out to Imad Wasim. With three down for 68, West Indies were in trouble and even a score of 200 was looking unachievable but they came back strong as Jason Mohammed and Shai Hope built a crucial partnership of 101 runs for the fourth wicket which helped West Indies recover from the early loss of their top order.

The in-form batsman, Jason Mohammad’s departure meant that West Indies were again behind the game as his wicket along with Jonathan Carter’s in quick succession left West Indies at a total of 192/5 in 43 overs. Shai Hope tried to provide some acceleration to their innings and in virtue of that he mistimed a short and fell to Shadab Khan for well-made 71runs facing 112 deliveries. Only 29 runs came off the last five overs and the momentum in the much-anticipated match shifted to Pakistan as West Indies managed to put up a total of 233runs at the end of 50 overs. Juniad Khan and Shadab Khan were the picks of the bowler picking 2 wickets each.

Pakistan was off to the worst possible start to their chase losing the experienced campaigner Kamran Akmal for a golden duck. It seemed as if Pakistan is repeating what West Indies did in their first innings as they lost Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam for a score of 3 and 16 respectively. Top Three failed to give the start and they were reduced to 36/3 in the 9^th over. Came out to bat next were Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik who made their intentions clear from ball one and played conventional cricket. Mohammad Hafeez got out in the 30^th over after scoring crucial 81runs.

With 84 needed of last 20 overs, the task to cross the winning line was on Shoaib Malik and the captain himself.  Both of them played with right intent and helped Pakistan to wrap up the series with a sensational win. The hero for today’s match was definitely Shoaib Malik who got to his 9^th ODI International hundred and finished the game with a six. He made sure to stay till the end to see his team through.

It was another cracker jack of a series that went all the way down to the wire but today it was Pakistan, who held their nerve and by virtue of that, they won the series and game by 6 wickets. It was great to see young talent taking up the responsibility, veteran players still showing their class, bowlers asking questions, and buzz whole round the park.

Both the teams can take out positives from this series and evolve as better cricketers.

Brief scores:

West Indies 233/9 (50) | Shai hope 71 (112) | Mohammad Amir 2/41 (9)

Pakistan 236/4 (43.1) | Shoaib Malik 101 (111) | Shannon Gabriel 2/60 (10)