Twitter Reactions: Mohammad Hafeez stars as Pakistan take 1-0 lead in West Indies T20Is

After the opening T20I in Barbados got washed off, Pakistan opened their account in the four-match T20I series against West Indies. They won by seven runs at the Providence Stadium in Guyana to take a 1-0 lead in the series with two matches left.

Babar steps up yet again

For the visitors, their skipper Babar Azam top-scored with a 40-ball 51 with four fours and two sixes. Mohammad Rizwan’s 36-ball 46 also helped Pakistan’s cause. The left-handed Sharjeel Khan didn’t disappoint either, scoring a quickfire 16-ball 20 at the top.

Pakistan lost a bit of momentum in the end and reached 157 for the loss of eight wickets. For the hosts, Jason Holder picked up four wickets. Dwayne Bravo also got the crucial scalps of Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez.

Hafeez bowls brilliantly

In the run-chase, barring Nicholas Pooran, no other Caribbean batter looked comfortable. The left-hander stayed unbeaten on 62 off 33 with four fours and six sixes. His knock went in vain as West Indies couldn’t go over the finishing line.

Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer and Kieron Pollard got into double digits, but couldn’t convert. Mohammad Hafeez was unplayable for Pakistan since he gave only six runs in four overs and got the crucial wicket of Andre Fletcher.

I’m happy as a captain with the way he bowled: Babar Azam

After the win, Babar lauded Hafeez for the stupendous spell of bowling. Pollard, on the other hand, reckoned that the Caribbean team made a decent comeback while bowling. He also said that the Pakistan bowlers used the conditions to good effect.

“We were 10-15 runs short after the rain. But a nice victory. Bowlers bowled really very well. Credit to our bowlers, they bowled really well. We lost momentum because of back-to-back wickets. We were looking at 170.

“It’s an area we will try to improve in the next few games. The way he (Hafeez) bowled in the powerplay showed his experience. I’m happy as a captain with the way he bowled,” Babar said.

“Thought 170-180 would have been too much and the way the guys came back in the last 10 overs with the ball and be consistent in that part of the game, was good. There was moisture and swing, grip for the bowlers, they (Pakistan) used the angles and used the wicket a lot more,” Pollard added.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to Pakistan’s win:

WORLD RECORD: Mohammad Rizwan has just created a new world record of most T20I runs in a calendar year, he surpassed the record of 748 runs in 2019 by Ireland's Paul Stirling. Stirling did it in 20 innings, Rizwan took 14 innings in 2021 to surpass him. #Cricket #Pakistan #WIvPAK pic.twitter.com/qZcX9DW5qv

— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) July 31, 2021

Fun Fact: Hafeez is the only player in the world who has bowled 3 maiden overs and also batted 3 maiden overs in T20Is. #WIvPak

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 31, 2021

20th fifty for Babar Azam in T20I from just 59 innings, he is behind Virat Kohli with 28 fifties and Rohit Sharma with 22 fifties – captain leading from the front. #WIvPAK

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 31, 2021

Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam (829 runs) are now the Most Prolific Batting Pair in T20Is for Pakistan.

They surpassed Umar Akmal & Shoaib Malik who scored 797 runs in partnerships.#WIvPAK

— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) July 31, 2021

If you think Babar Azam & M Rizwan play slow together, you are mistaken.

They score at 8.50 RPO batting together which equates to 170 runs if they bat full 20 overs.

Only Pakistani pair which plays faster is Umar Akmal & Shahid Afridi (8.72 RPO) – min. 500 runs.#WIvPAK

— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) July 31, 2021

Whatt a man at the age 40 he bowled 4 overs grab one wicket and bowled 1 maidens and with the economy of 1.50 against the high quality hitting batsman.. wow!!! He is absolutely genius 😌 #WIvPAK pic.twitter.com/rhQbhxPdz7

— Itssanjayvg (@itssanjayvg) August 1, 2021

💥Most economical 4-over bowling spells in T20Is by a Pakistani bowler:

4-1-6-2 by Mohammad Amir versus UAE in 2016
4-1-6-1 by Mohammad Hafeez today v W Indies#Cricket #WIvPAK

— Sohaib's Cricket (@CricketSohaib) August 1, 2021

Fastest to 20 T20I fifties:

56 inns – 🇵🇰 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝘇𝗮𝗺
62 inns – 🇮🇳 Virat Kohli
99 inns – 🇮🇳 Rohit Sharma

Whenever he bats, he gets his name in the history book. A record breaker, a record maker. 👑 #PAKvWI #WIvPAK#PrayForTurkey pic.twitter.com/lj3aAeQ1sx

— 🇯🇴𝘼𝙨𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙆𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞🇵🇰 (@asfi_KK) August 1, 2021

#pakvwindies Spin to win it ! It’s a recipe that usually works against the Windies. Pak’s middle order though need to produce consistency to enable the top 3 to play freely without looking over their shoulder!

— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) July 31, 2021

Pakistan one-up! But geeezz… love Nicky P!!! 😬🤸🏽💥🌴 @nicholas_47 #WIvsPAK

— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) July 31, 2021

Congrats team 🇵🇰 a brilliant defend against a quality t20 team of West Indies.
A great spell of bowling by @MHafeez22 Bhai as well as @76Shadabkhan 👍#pakvswi

— Ahmad Shahzad 🇵🇰 (@iamAhmadshahzad) July 31, 2021

Congratulations to @iMRizwanPak on scoring most t20i runs in a calendar.
Amazing form and wonderful achievement. Keep it up! 💪🏽

— Wahab Riaz (@WahabViki) July 31, 2021

Superb by @MHafeez22 what a great match winning spell,well batted babar,Rizwan #PAKvsWI

— Sohail Tanveer (@sohailmalik614) July 31, 2021

As usual @babarazam258 and @iMRizwanPak doing the larger part in batting well played guys . @MHafeez22 top bowling in power play 👏👏👏.

— Salman Butt (@im_SalmanButt) July 31, 2021