Guyana: West Indies beat Pakistan in the last ODI by 10 wickets but Pakistan bagged the ‘Digicel ODI Series’ by 3-2. Mohammad Hafeez named as ‘Man Of The Series’.
Toss: Pakistan won the toss & elected to bat.
WI Captain Sammy tosses the coin as youngster Xaviee Smith and Pakistan Captain Afridi looks on.
Pakistan Innings:
Mohammad Hafeez & Taufeeq Umar were paired together to start the innings of Pakistan but this time Taufeeq Umar failed to play a big knock & caught behind at the beautiful delivery of Rampaul in the 5th over.
Ahmed Shehzad was the new batsman. He tried to settle down with Mohammad Hafeez but the tight bowling by the West Indian bowlers prohibited him. In result, Sammy claimed the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad.
The score of Pakistan was 48/2 in 14.5 overs. Usman Slahuddin came in to keep the scoreboard ticking but he became the victim of zero-minded umpire Asoka de Silva. Pakistani batting line was going down like an injured bird.
Now everything was on the back of vice captain, Misbah-ul-Haq but Mr. Wall also failed to carry the burden & got lbw out. It was a slow off-cutter by Sammy but laziness of Misbah-ul-Haq failed to read it & got out on just 1.
All eyes were now on Umar Akmal & on Mohammad Hafeez. They both tried to play big shots but uncertainty of the pitch disallowed them. West Indian bowlers forced them to work hard for taking the singles.
Mohammad Hafeez who was going well became the 3rd wicket of Darren Sammy. It was a low bounce off which M. Hafeez tried to play a cut shot, got the inside edge & in result went back to pavilion. He played a good innings of 55 runs (83 balls) & smashed 6 balls for boundaries.
Two overs later, Umar Akmal also got out in the same fashion at the ball of Rampaul. Umar scored 24 runs off 27 balls with the help of 1 FOUR & 1 SIX. Now two new batsmen, Shahid Afridi & Mohammad Salman were on the crease. The score of Pakistan was 108/6 in 31.0 overs.
Pakistan was going down & in this sort of position Mr. Afridi got a beautiful bouncer from Raumpaul onto his gloves which got a light edge & went straight into the hands of wicket keeper Baugh. Skipper Afridi scored just 9 runs including a boundary off 10 balls.
New batsman Wahab Riaz went back to pavilion without scoring any run. Saeed Ajmal tried to get some runs on the board with Mohammad Salman who was struggling alone on the other end.
Dwayne Bravo first got rid of Saeed Ajmal & then Junaid Khan in the same style. Mohammad Salman remained not-out at the score of 19.
It was a dismal performance by Pakistani batsmen as their complete team got out at the score of 139 runs in 41.2 overs. Only 3 batsmen entered into double figures.
West Indian bowling was terrific as they gave just 5 extra runs. Ravi Rampaul was impressive as he got 4 wickets in 10 overs & gave 45 runs. Sammy took 3 for 30 in his 10 overs, Dwayne Bravo took 2 for 16 in 5.2 overs & Bishoo took 1 wicket for 26 runs in 7 overs.
Mohammad Hafeez scored 55 runs off 83 balls with the help of 6 FOURS.
West Indies Innings:
It was all about West Indies. Simmons & his partner Edwards started their innings slowly because the target wasn’t difficult. On the other hand, B00M B00M Afridi who was impressive with his bowling in the 2011 World Cup opened the bowling with Junaid Khan.
Pakistani bowlers were trying hard but nothing was happening. Both the openers were playing nicely & easily. There were couple of chances for getting the wickets but the chances were also chopped down.
The line & length of Pakistani bowling was annoying as they gave 23 extra runs. Wahab Riaz who completely failed in this series once again bowled 2 no-balls & 2 wides.
West Indies chased the target quite cheaply by scoring 140/0 in 23.3 over. Simmons & Edwards remained not-out at the score of 77 & 40 respectively.
Simmons Acknowledges the Appreciative Guyana Crowd After His 6th ODI Half Century.
Result: West Indies won by 10 wickets.
Man Of The Match: Lendl Simmons (West Indies)
Note: Highlights will be available shortly.
Lendl Simmons Accepts His Man Of The Match Award and Blackberry from Colin Stuart, Former WI Bowler and Match Adjudicator.
Winner of the Series: Pakistan won by 3-2.
Man Of The Series: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan).
Muhammed Hafeez Accepts His Man Of The Series Award and BlackBerry from Gregory Deane, CEO Digicel Guyana.
Comments by both captain, man of the match & man of the series:
Lendl Simmons (Man Of The Match) : ”I have been trying to focus more on my batting, working on fitness, working Desmond Haynes. I have been out of the team for a while, I knew my chance would come again, so I had to capitalise.”
Mohammad Hafeez (Man Of The Series) : ”It’s a bit disappointing the way we ended the series, but we will learn from it. As far as my performance is concerned, I like to thank the people trusted my ability, who supported me during my tough times. My family too.”
Darren Sammy (Captain of West Indies) : ”It’s a good feeling, especially in front of the Guyanese who have turned out in such large numbers. This is the type of performances we have been looking for. Good to see that. Total team effort. Looking at the last game, it seems we might be more comfortable chasing. Looking back at the series, we created opportunities, but didn’t take them. You will take confidence from any victory. You couldn’t fault the effort of Ravi and Bishoo.”
Shahid Afridi (Captain of Pakistan) : ”It is a disappointing end. It was not a 140 wicket. We struggled in the batting, we need someone to teach us how to bat in a situation like this. We all wanted to wat first, but we didn’t play well. The main thing was no partnerships. Just Hafeez played well. Winning a series, especially playing everything away, is important. Keeps the morale high.”
Pakistan - Winner of 'Digicel ODI Series'
