Pakistan vs West Indies, 3rd T20I – Match Predictions

With Pakistan already having won the first two games and secured the series, the third game is merely a dead rubber and it will be an opportunity for the hosts to try out their bench strength more than anything else. For West Indies, however, there is a lot at stake as they will be desperate to avoid the embarrassment of a whitewash.

The series has turned out to be a no-contest whatsoever. There has been a drastic difference in the level of the two teams and unless and until West Indies pulls off something remarkable tonight, 3-0 is well and truly on the cards and that will be an absolute delight for the Karachi fans who have had the taste of international cricket after 9 long years.

Pitch and Conditions

The curators at the National Stadium Karachi have produced two absolute belters and the dew has come into play as well in both the games, but the batsmanship of a really mediocre quality by West Indies has meant that they haven’t been able to get even close to the scores Pakistan has posted batting first.

The pitch tonight should again be a batting beauty and West Indies perhaps will want to bat first just so they could express themselves without the pressure of the run chase. They have a young batting line-up which has not looked too comfortable chasing huge scores and just for a change, the management and the captain might offer them a different task tonight if they have the luck with the coin.

Pakistan, on the other hand, will like to field first as the bowling gets tougher and tougher later in the evening. Also if they bat second, it will be a test of temperament for some of their young guns just making their way into the international circuit as chasing is a different ball-game than setting a total.

Playing Combination

Pakistan

There will be changes on the Pakistani side for sure. They will be resting both their premier fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali and will hand playing opportunities to a couple of others who had a good PSL recently. The young sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi will be making his debut tonight; also Rahat Ali will be playing in Pakistan colours after a while.

There is a chance that the hosts might actually go with Usman Khan Shenwari as well and make it a trio of left-arm quicks. If that happens, Faheem Ashraf will have to sit out and Shadab Khan will bat at no. 7, followed by Mohammad Nawaz at 8.

Ahmed Shehzad will probably also be in action replacing Babar Azam who might be another player to be rested considering the series is already in the bag. The rest of the batting line-up should remain the same; however, Asif Ali might be promoted up the order and bat at no. 3 as he hasn’t had the opportunity to spend that much of time in the middle in the two games so far.

Predicted XI: Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Sarfaraz Ahmed  (C & WK), Asif Ali, Usman Khan Shenwari, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Rahat Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi

West Indies

West Indies is lacking resources as they had come to Pakistan with only a 13-member squad out of which one player is out injured and there are only 12 available for selection now. They would ideally have liked to make a few changes, but the options are not there and the only possibility of a change is Andre McCarthy coming in at the place of Kesrick Williams who has been a big disappointment in the series.

That won’t be a like-for-like replacement though, as McCarthy is an all-rounder and not a specialist bowler like Williams, but it will strengthen the batting of the visitors a touch which they need at the moment and they will perhaps back Rovman Powell and McCarthy to fill the 5th bowler’s quota together.

West Indies may put Denesh Ramdin at no. 4 in the order as he was really impressive in the brief period of time he was out there batting in the second game. The veteran wicket-keeper who has been around the West Indies set-up for quite a long time hit some crisp strokes against both pace and spin and put a bit of life into the Caribbean innings.

Keemo Paul is another player who the team management might want batting slightly higher, possibly at no. 5 as he too looked in great touch last night. He is someone who is worth being invested in as he has shown enough signs that he can be a good, long-term prospect for West Indies cricket. He has, in fact, been the only shining light for West Indies on this tour.

Predicted XI: Chadwick Walton,  Andre Fletcher, Marlon Samuels, Jason Mohammed (C), Denesh Ramdin (WK), Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Rayad Emrit, Samuel Badree, Odean Smith, Andre McCarthy

Probable Top Performers

Asif Ali (Pakistan), Keemo Paul (West Indies)

Head to Head

Matches – 13, Pakistan – 10, West Indies – 3

The timing of the match: 08:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony ESPN

Online – Sony Liv

The prediction is for Pakistan to beat West Indies and win the series 3-0.