Jason Holder was a man possessed as he shone with the ball and then held his nerves with the bat as West Indies eked out a 2-wicket win over Pakistan to level the series 1-1. Jason Holder was unstoppable today as his incisive bowling at the start and the end overs helped restrict Pakistan. His 4/19 helped West Indies restrict Pakistan to 133/9 despite Hasan Nawaz’s 40 off 23 balls.
Chasing 134 for the win, West Indies stuttered in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals and never got going. Gudakesh Motie played well for his 28 off 20 balls while it was that man Jason Holder stepping up with game on the line scoring an unbeaten 16 off 10 balls which included a last ball boundary off Shaheen Afridi to win the game and level things up. The losing streak of West Indies comes to an end and it’s all to play for in the decider.
Jason Holder’s 4-wicket haul restricts Pakistan to 133/9
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Pakistan openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan walked out to start proceedings. Akeal Hosein bowled a tight first over before Jason Holder got hit for a streaky boundary from Saim Ayub. But Holder had his revenge as he dismissed Ayub for 7 off 9 balls with a boundary to his name. Holder bowled a length delivery angling across the batter. Ayub played away from the body and looked to drive and managed a faint outside edge to Jewel Andrew who did the rest. Fakhar Zaman came out to bat at 3.
Fakhar got off the mark with a boundary off Hosein by playing a reverse sweep. But Holder struck again getting rid of Sahibzada Farhan for 3 off 7 balls. Holder bowled a good length delivery outside off, Farhan threw the kitchen sink at it by swinging his bat. He got a huge leading edge towards point. Sherfane Rutherford took a simple catch by moving to his left. With this wicket, Holder surpassed Dwayne Bravo as the leading wicket-taker for West Indies in T20Is as this was his 79th T20I wicket. Mohammad Haris came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace.
Akeal Hosein joined the party as well as he got rid of Mohammad Haris for 4 off 6 balls. He bowled a good length delivery angling in at the off-stump. Haris moved leg side and swung his bat at it and gets deceived in the process as he gets a leading edge towards mid-on. Jason Holder called for the catch and successfully took the catch. Captain Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Shamar Joseph was introduced to bowl the final over of powerplay and he bowled a miserly over to end the powerplay. At the end of the powerplay, Pakistan were 24/3 and in a spot of bother. Gudakesh Motie bowled a tight over post the powerplay. Shamar Joseph hardly gave anything away as runs came in singles at this stage.
The captain Salman Ali Agha broke the shackles by launching a maximum off Gudakesh Motie. Fakhar Zaman then hit a boundary to Motie before Agha came back on strike to hit a boundary to end the over as some momentum was achieved by Pakistan.
The introduction of Roston Chase worked wonders for West Indies as he got rid of Fakhar Zaman for 20 off 19 balls with 2 fours to his name. Chase bowled a good length delivery from around the wicket outside off and turning away. Fakhar jogged down the track to hammer it down the ground. He mistimed it as Romario Shepherd came forward from long-on to take the catch tumbling forward. Hasan Nawaz came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace. Pakistan at the end of 10 overs at the halfway stage were 57/4.
Akeal Hosein bowled a miserly 11th over and finished his impressive spell. Motie was punished as Salman broke the shackles by hitting him for consecutive boundaries. Romario Shepherd was introduced into the attack and bowled a tight first over from his end. Hasan Nawaz decided to break the shackles as he hit Shamar Joseph for a boundary and ended the over by launching a maximum off the same bowler down the ground for the maximum. Nawaz was dealing in sixes now as he hit Shepherd for 3 consecutive sixes in the 15th over as the 100 came up in 14.5 overs. At the end of 15 overs, Pakistan were 110/4 looking good to get to a competitive score with death overs coming up.
Jason Holder came back into the attack and struck gold as he got rid of Hasan Nawaz for 40 off 23 balls with 1 four and 4 sixes to his name with the budding partnership broken. Holder bowled it full outside leg stump, Nawaz tried to flick it away but only got a leading edge which was gobbled up superbly by Holder. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Gudakesh Motie came back for his final over and struck getting rid of Salman Ali Agha for 38 off 33 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name.
Motie bowled it full outside off, Agha shaped up for the reverse sweep but he missed it and was struck on the pads. The appeal was turned down but Hope and West Indies opted for DRS and got the decision overturned. Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next and was dismissed for a golden duck as Motie had 2 in 2 balls. Motie bowled a length delivery outside off, Faheem chipped it straight as Motie completed a sharp return catch. Motie was on a hat-trick as Hasan Ali came out and negotiated the hat-trick ball and got off the mark as well.
Roston Chase kept things tight by bowling a decent 18th over. Jason Holder struck again as he dismissed Mohammad Nawaz for 2 off 2 balls. He bowled it slow outside off, Nawaz looked to pull but he skied it to long-on where Shamar Joseph walked in and took a comfortable catch. Holder had 4 in the night. Shaheen Afridi came out to bat and got off the mark as well as Pakistan reached 131/8 in 19 overs.
Shamar Joseph was tasked to bowl the final over of the innings and he dismissed Hasan Ali for 8 off 10 balls. Joseph bowled short of a length wide of off-stump with no pace on the ball. Hasan moved across to scoop the ball over short fine leg, but he miscued it. The keeper Jewel Andrew ran back and dived to take a fantastic catch as Pakistan lost their 9th wicket. Sufiyan Muqeem was the last man out there and he got off the mark. Two dots to end the over meant Pakistan finished with 133/9 in 20 overs after being 110/4 after 15 overs. 8 extras given by West Indies bowlers.
Jason Holder was the star of the show with the ball finishing with 4/19 in 4 overs. Gudakesh Motie was expensive but picked up a couple of wickets for 39 runs in 4 overs. Akeal Hosein bowled a miserly spell of 1/16 in 4 overs. Shamar Joseph bowled well for his 1/22 in 4 overs. Roston Chase delivered 2 overs for 11 runs and picked up a wicket while Romario Shepherd’s 2 overs went for 22 runs. Decent effort by the West Indies meant that they needed 134 to win and level the series on a challenging pitch.
Jason Holder holds his nerve as West Indies eke out 2-wicket win off the last ball
Another new opening pair for West Indies walked out to bat in Alick Athanaze and Jewel Andrew. Athanaze got off the mark straightaway while Andrew managed to get a boundary away off Shaheen Afridi in the first over. The introduction of Mohammad Nawaz paid dividends as he got rid of Athanaze for 2 off 4 balls. Nawaz bowled a length delivery outside off and turning in from over the wicket, Athanaze looked to clip it through midwicket but he missed it as the finger was raised. Athanaze reviewed in hope and the decision stood as the review was burnt as well. Captain Shai Hope came out to bat next.
Hasan Ali was introduced into the attack and he was welcomed with a boundary from Hope before going off strike. Andrew launched Hasan down the ground for a maximum. Hope then hit Nawaz for a boundary before Andrew survived a close caught and bowled chance as the ball landed just in front of Nawaz. But Nawaz had his man the very next ball as Andrew fell for 12 off 10 balls with a boundary and six to his name.
Nawaz bowled a tad short and turning away, Andrew looked to pull but got a top edge to short third where Shaheen Afridi took the simple catch. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next. Afridi bowled a tight over before Hasan Ali came back to bowl the final over of powerplay. Hasan kept it tight and simple as West Indies were 34/2 at the end of the powerplay. Sufiyan Muqeem was introduced into the attack and was welcomed with a boundary from Rutherford.
Saim Ayub was introduced into the attack and he provided another breakthrough for his side getting rid of Sherfane Rutherford for 9 off 11 balls with a boundary to his name. Ayub bowled a full delivery on the stumps, Rutherford looked to clip it through midwicket but the ball straightened to go past the bat and hit the back pad. Huge appeal and the finger was raised. Sherfane Rutherford challenged it and burnt the review as well as the decision stood. Roston Chase came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Mohammad Nawaz bowled a tight 9th over as the required rate started to climb up. Ayub bowled a decent 10th over as West Indies were forced to rebuild. At the halfway stage, they were 52/3 after 10 overs with Drinks being taken as the hosts needed a further 82 runs off 60 balls. Mohammad Nawaz struck after the break as he got rid of captain Shai Hope for 21 off 30 balls with 2 fours to his name.
Nawaz bowled a fuller than length ball at the middle stump. Hope moved leg side to go over covers and managed to get it off the inside half of his bat and offered a return catch to Nawaz who latched onto it. Gudakesh Motie came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Ayub kept things tight as spinners were hard to get away on that pitch. Muqeem bowled a decent over as well as things were becoming a tad difficult for the hosts. The pressure of asking rate got to Chase as he was dismissed by Saim Ayub for 16 off 19 balls.
Ayub tossed it up at middle and leg stump, Chase looked to loft it over cow corner but got it off the cue end of his bat. It flew towards midwicket where Hasan Nawaz ran to his right and took the catch. Keacy Carty came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Motie got a welcome boundary and much-needed one for West Indies as a boundary came after 51 balls. At the end of 15 overs, West Indies were 79/5 needing another 55 runs off 30 balls.
Motie decided to change gears as he hit Hasan Ali for two maximums in the 16th over to change the momentum of the match. Then Motie was run out as the keeper Haris did really well and knocks down the stumps as Motie was out of his crease and could not get back in time. His innings finished at 28 off 20 balls with a boundary and 2 sixes to his name.
Jason Holder came out to bat next as Pakistan burnt a review by appealing against him for LBW when ball pitched outside leg stump. Muqeem then dismissed Keacy Carty for 3 off 5 balls as Haris took a good catch.
Muqeem bowled a flipper delivery on back of length angling outside off-stump. Carty went for the cut shot but could only manage a bottom edge. Haris showed great reflexes to take the catch. Romario Shepherd came out to bat next as West Indies needed 36 off 18 balls. Shepherd hit a boundary off Afridi to bring up the 100 for West Indies in 17.3 overs. Holder rounded off the over by smashing Afridi for the maximum by clearing his front leg and flicking it over deep midwicket. West Indies now needed 24 off 12 balls.
Hasan Ali overstepped in the next over but the free hit yielded only a couple of runs. Shepherd turned it on for the home side by smashing a maximum over long-on and followed that up with a boundary through backward point. Two dot balls to end the over meant West Indies now needed 8 off the final over with Shaheen Afridi given the responsibility to bowl that over. Holder got a single off Afridi to get off strike before Afridi trapped Shepherd in front for 15 off 11 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name.
Afridi bowled a low full toss angling at the pads. Shepherd missed the flick and got hit on his pads. The umpire raised his finger and with no reviews left, the batter had to walk back to the hut. Shamar Joseph came out to bat next and he got off the mark straightaway. Then singles followed off the next few balls as the equation boiled down to 4 needed off 1 ball. Afridi felt the heat as he bowled a full delivery way outside off, which Holder swung and missed as wide was called bringing the equation down to 3 off 1 ball and 2 for a super over.
But Jason Holder held his nerves and got the winning runs for the West Indies as Shaheen’s good length ball angling in at the off and middle stump was picked by Holder as he cleared his front leg and flicked it away. Holder roared in delight as the aerial flick eluded backward square leg fielder. The ball went away to the fence as West Indies got over the line with 2 wickets in hand and a ball to spare. Holder remained unbeaten on 16 off 10 balls with a boundary and six to his name. 11 extras given by Pakistan bowlers.
Mohammad Nawaz was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 3/14 in 4 overs. He was ably supported by Saim Ayub who finished with 2/20 in 4 overs. Sufiyan Muqeem bowled a miserly spell of 1/19 in 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Hasan Ali went for 48 runs in his 4 overs. West Indies held their nerves and won the game by the barest of margins to level the series and set up for a decider tomorrow. For his all-round performance, Jason Holder was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
The series is level at 1-1 and it is set up for the decider which is scheduled tomorrow at Florida. All to play for in the decider as both teams are evenly matched. Can West Indies keep this up and clinch a series win after ages? Or will Pakistan bounce back from this defeat and down West Indies?
Find out tomorrow as we have back-to-back games in Florida. If the second game is anything to go by, we will be in for a thrilling finale to the T20I series.
Also Read: WI VS PAK: Saim Ayub’s All-round Performance Helps Pakistan Go 1-0 Up In Florida