West Indies Vs Pakistan 4th T20I: Ahmed Shehzad And Bowlers Guide Pakistan To Series Win
Dec 31, 2018 at 1:56 PM
After failing to perform with the bat in the first three matches, Ahmed Shehzad roared back to form with a brilliant half-century to guide Pakistan to a comprehensive series win over the West Indies in the fourth T20I match on Sunday (April 2) at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Chasing a paltry 125, Pakistan openers Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal made a steady start, adding 40 runs in 38 balls before the latter was sent back by Marlon Samuels. But any hopes of making an unlikely comeback was soon quashed by a 70-run stand between Shehzad and the in-form Babar Azam. The duo mixed caution with aggression to put Pakistan in sight of victory.
Shehzad completed his sixth T20I fifty in the 16th over and with only 15 needed to clinch the match, the right-handed batsman fell to the pace of Kesrick Williams. Five runs later, Azam was also undone by the pace of Williams for a well-made 38. Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed then shared an unbeaten partnership of 12 runs to take Pakistan home with one over remaining.
Earlier, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan starred with the ball, taking 2 wickets each to help Pakistan restrict West Indies to only 124 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs. After being invited to bat first, the home team were off to a decent start with their openers adding 27 runs before Evan Lewis was dismissed by Imad Wasim. However, the reigning World T20 champions’ inning was derailed after Shadab Khan accounted for Chadwick Walton for 40. Hasan Ali then piled more misery on West Indies by dismissing Jason Mohammed for 1 and the hosts were staring down the barrel when Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels departed off back to back balls, to leave their team reeling at 73 for 5.
The visiting bowlers bowled a disciplined line throughout the non-powerplay overs and never allowed West Indies batsmen to free their arms as the hosts finished on 124 for 8 even after skipper Carlos Brathwaite scored a quickfire 37 which was studded with a couple of fours and as many sixes.
Brief Scores:
West Indies 124/8 in 20 overs (Chadwick Walton 40, Carlos Brathwaite 37*; Hasan Ali 2-12, Shadab Khan 2-16) lost to Pakistan 127/3 in 19 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 53, Babar Azam 38; Kesrick Williams 2-16) by seven wickets.