PROVIDENCE: Pakistan’s versatile bowling attack did just enough to restrain a rampant Nicholas Pooran and come away with a seven-run victory over the West Indies in the second Twenty20 International of the four-match series at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Saturday.

Following a rain-ruined opening encounter in Barbados three days earlier, Babar Azam’s team will go into the third match of the series on Sunday, also at Providence, with 1-0 lead.

Pooran’s explosive unbeaten 62 off 33 balls with six sixes and four fours kept the West Indies’ hopes alive even in the final over when 20 runs were required to overhaul Pakistan’s total of 157-8.

However, Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed the wicket of captain Kieron Pollard and then denied Pooran the opportunity to swing freely and lustily at the next three deliveries to ensure the visitors came away with the win with the hosts kept to 150-4.

West Indies were again undone in their run chase by the number of scoreless deliveries, 47, in their innings, although nothing could take away from the outstanding bowling effort of Mohammad Hafeez.

Bowling the first over of the innings, the veteran off-spinning all-rounder bowled Andre Fletcher with his second ball and conceded just six runs across his four overs.

“Knowing these conditions and having played cricket here before in the Caribbean Premier League certainly helped as I knew it would be difficult for the batsmen,” said player-of-the-match Hafeez.

West Indies suffered a setback when opener Evin Lewis retired hurt on 35 midway through the innings.

Earlier on, Jason Holder and Dwayne Bravo put the brakes on the Pakistan scoring rate.

Holder returned the excellent figures of 4-26 while Bravo claimed 2-24 as the tourists squandered a solid platform provided by Babar (51 off 58 balls) and Mohammad Rizwan (46), who added 67 for the third wicket.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Sharjeel Khan c Hosein b Holder 20

Mohammad Rizwan run out 46

Babar Azam c Pooran b Holder 51

Fakhar Zaman c Walsh b Bravo 15

Mohammad Hafeez c Walsh b Bravo 6

Hasan Ali c Bravo b Holder 0

Sohaib Maqsood c Shepherd b Holder 5

Shadab Khan run out 5

Mohammad Wasim not out 1

EXTRAS: (B-1, LB-2, W-4, NB-1) 8

TOTAL: (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 157

FALL OF WKTS: 1-46 (Sharjeel), 2-113 (Rizwan), 3-134 (Babar), 4-145 (Hafeez), 5-145 (Fakhar), 6-150 (Hasan), 7-150 (Sohaib), 8-157 (Shadab).

DID NOT BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir.

BOWLING: Hosein 4-0-30-0 (1nb); Holder 4-0-26-4; Gayle 1-0-11-0 (3w); Bravo 4-0-24-2; Shepherd 3-0-38-0 (1w); Walsh 4-0-25-0.

WEST INDIES:

A.D.S. Fletcher b Hafeez 0

E. Lewis retired hurt 35

C.H. Gayle b Hasan 16

S.O. Hetmyer b Wasim 17

N. Pooran not out 62

K.A. Pollard c Wasim b Shaheen 13

J.O. Holder not out 0

EXTRAS: (LB-3, W-4) 7

TOTAL: (for four wkts, 20 overs) 150

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0 (Fletcher), 2-31 (Gayle), 3-70 (Hetmyer), 4-140 (Pollard).

DID NOT BAT: D.J. Bravo, R. Shepherd, H.R. Walsh, A.J. Hosein.

BOWLING: Mohammad Hafeez 4-1-6-1; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-0-44-1 (1w); Hasan Ali 4-0-32-1; Shadab Khan 4-0-22-0 (1w); Usman Qadir 1-0-11-0 (1w); Mohammad Wasim 3-0-32-1 (1w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by seven runs to lead four-match series 1-0.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Hafeez.

FIRST MATCH: Bridgetown, no result.

THIRD MATCH: Providence, Sunday (8:00pm PST).

FOURTH MATCH: Providence, Tuesday (8:00pm PST).

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2021