Hasan Nawaz shone on debut and played a crucial hand under pressure as Pakistan registered a tense 5-wicket win over West Indies to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. Hasan Nawaz started slowly and then built his innings gradually and aced the chase to get to the target in 48.5 overs and give West Indies another loss.
Deciding to field first, Pakistan rode on Shaheen Afridi’s 4-wicket haul and Naseem Shah’s 3 wickets to keep West Indies down to 280 in 49 overs despite half centuries from Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, and Roston Chase. In reply, Babar Azam scored 47 while Mohammad Rizwan scored 53 but it was Hasan Nawaz who stole the show with his 63* and Hussain Talat scored 41* as the visitors ultimately got over the line.
Shaheen Afridi’s 4-wicket haul keeps West Indies down to 280
Brandon King and Evin Lewis walked out to bat for the West Indies after they were put into bat by Pakistan. King got off the mark with a boundary but Afridi hit back getting rid of King for 4 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name. Afridi bowled it fuller and shaping away outside off, King pressed forward and reached for it and drove it uppishly straight to Babar Azam at covers who took it safely. Keacy Carty came out to bat next.
Naseem Shah shared the new ball from the other end and bowled a nice over. Carty got his first boundary by hitting Shaheen for a boundary through cover point. Carty was on a roll as he took on Naseem Shah as well and hit him for a boundary. Evin Lewis joined the party as he hit Afridi for a maximum over square leg. Some miserly overs followed from both ends before Saim Ayub was introduced into the attack.
Ayub started with a maiden over before Evin Lewis broke the shackles by hitting Naseem Shah for a boundary. He finished the over with another boundary off Shah. Lewis then hit Ayub for a boundary through deep square leg as West Indies reached 59/1 after the first 10 overs of the mandatory powerplay. Sufiyan Muqeem was introduced into the attack and he was greeted by the maximum from Evin Lewis.
Vice-Captain Salman Ali Agha came into the attack and bowled a decent first over. Runs came in singles and twos before Carty broke the shackles by hitting Agha for a boundary. Muqeem then broke the budding partnership getting rid of Keacy Carty for 30 off 39 balls with 3 fours to his name. Muqeem bowled a harmless full toss on leg stump, Carty got low to sweep but ended up getting it off the top edge. The ball skied up in the air behind the keeper. Agha from slip comes in and takes it comfortably in the end. Captain Shai Hope walked out to bat next.
He got off the mark. Some tight overs followed before Lewis hit Faheem Ashraf for a maximum and completed his half-century off 51 balls. Lewis hit another boundary to Ashraf. Agha bowled a quiet over while Lewis hit a boundary off Ayub to bring up the 100 for West Indies in 18.3 overs. But Ayub struck gold for Pakistan getting rid of Evin Lewis for 60 off 62 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Ayub bowled a fuller ball outside off, Lewis looked to launch it down the ground but he got more height than distance as Shaheen ran forward and to his right before circling to take a catch. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next.
Hope then hit Agha for a boundary as well. Hope was on a roll as he hit Ayub for a boundary now while the scoreboard kept ticking away. Agha kept things tight from one end as well. Ayub was bowling decently as well. Hope broke the shackles as he hit Agha for a boundary. Runs came in singles as West Indies were 135/3 in 25 overs at the halfway stage of the innings.
Salman Ali Agha provided the breakthrough for the Pakistanis as he got rid of Rutherford for 10 off 19 balls. Salman bowled it fuller outside off, Rutherford looked to make room and drive it through extra covers but hit it uppishly. Ayub took the catch at short extra cover. Roston Chase came out to bat next. Runs came in singles in the next few overs. Chase got his first boundary away by hitting Agha via a reverse sweep. Ayub and Agha kept it going as West Indies were 154/4 in 30 overs.
Chase managed to get a boundary away off Ayub. Muqeem came back and bowled a miserly over before Chase hit Ayub over deep extra cover for a maximum. Muqeem bowled another tidy over as Pakistan kept things tight. Faheem Ashraf bowled a decent second over of his bowling innings. Runs came in singles as boundaries had dried up a little bit.
Soon, Shai Hope got to his half-century in 74 balls and it was his 29th ODI fifty. After 40 overs, West Indies were pegged back at 196/4. Hope hit a boundary off Shaheen Afridi as the 200 came up in 40.1 overs. But Afridi hit back getting rid of the West Indies skipper for 55 off 77 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. The slower one off-cutter from Afridi full and outside off, Hope backed away and looked to smash it down the ground but got an outside edge as Rizwan did the rest behind the stumps. Romario Shepherd came out to the middle and got off the mark eventually.
Muqeem bowled a decent 42nd over giving nothing away to the batters. Chase broke the shackles as he smashed Afridi for the maximum over deep midwicket. Afridi got rid of Romario Shepherd for 4 off 10 balls. Full and outside off, Shepherd looked to heave it across the line and the bat turns in his hands and he slices in the air. The ball goes towards deep backward point where Abdullah Shafique does the rest and takes a good catch. Gudakesh Motie comes out to bat next.
Chase hit Muqeem for a boundary and soon completed 1000 runs in ODIs. Naseem gave away 4 leg byes to Roston Chase and soon he completed his sixth half-century off 53 balls by hitting a boundary off Naseem. Shah hits back and gets rid of Chase for 53 off 54 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Full and outside off, Chase flicked it aerially but found Babar Azam at long-on who took it easily. Shamar Joseph walked out to bat next. Motie then got into the act as he hit Muqeem for two boundaries in three balls.
Motie then hit Naseem Shah for the maximum as the 250 came up for the West Indies in 46.2 overs. Shamar survived a LBW scare as Pakistan burnt a review against him. Joseph hit Afridi for the maximum off a no ball and then a wide followed. But the free hit was a dot ball and then Afridi knocked over Joseph for 8 off 8 balls with a maximum to his name. Afridi bowled a toe crushing yorker full and straight at the base of off-stump, Shamar was too late to react and by the time he brought his bat down, the ball cannoned into the stumps. Jayden Seales came out to bat at Number 10.
Afridi gave away 4 byes to Seales to end the 48th over. Motie then hit Naseem Shah for a boundary and then a maximum in the first three balls. But Naseem hit back cleaning up Motie for 31 off 18 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Naseem bowled a full yorker and at the off-stump. Motie shuffled across and looked to play the ramp shot but missed it. The ball sneaked under the bat and cannoned into the stumps. Jediah Blades came out to bat.
Blades was cleaned up first ball as the innings ended here. Naseem bowled full and straight tailing in late at the leg stump. Too good for Number 11. Blades looked to drive after clearing his front leg and misses the ball as it crashed into leg stump. Seales remained unbeaten on 1 off 3 balls as West Indies were bowled out for 280 in 49 overs. 24 extras given by Pakistan.
Shaheen Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 4/51 in 8 overs. He was ably supported by Naseem Shah who chipped in with 3/55 in 8 overs. Saim Ayub finished with 1/48 in 10 overs. Sufiyan Muqeem finished with 1/52 in 10 overs. Salman Ali Agha chipped in with 1/44 in 10 overs. Faheem Ashraf’s 3 wicketless overs went for 18 runs. That meant Pakistan needed 281 runs to go 1-0 up in the 3-match series.
Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan 50s guides the chase through for Pakistan
Chasing 281 for the win, Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique walked out to bat for Pakistan. Jayden Seales started with a decent over while Jediah Blades gave away 4 leg byes as gift to the batters. Seales got the breakthrough as he got rid of Saim Ayub for 5 off 12 balls. Seales bowled it short of a length and angling away, Ayub looked to defend but got an outside edge as Shai Hope took a simple catch. Babar Azam came out to bat next.
Blades and Seales kept things tight till Shafique broke the shackles by hitting a boundary off Blades. Babar Azam got his first boundary away although he was tad lucky with the outside edge going into the gap. Shamar Joseph came into the attack and bowled a tight over. Babar hit a maximum off Jayden Seales to make his intentions clear. Shafique survived a close LBW call against him as West Indies burnt a review.
Babar Azam got a glorious boundary away off Joseph as Pakistan were 48/1 after the first mandatory powerplay of 10 overs. Gudakesh Motie came into the attack and was dispatched away for the maximum by Shafique as he showed intent out there. Shafique hit Joseph for a boundary but the bowler hit back getting rid of Shafique for 29 off 33 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name.
Length delivery from Joseph angling into the stumps, Shafique looked to clip it in front of square but he missed it. The decision was eventually turned down for LBW but the DRS changed the decision to OUT. Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat at 4. Romario Shepherd came into the attack and delivered a decent over to start his spell. West Indies then burnt a caught behind appeal against Mohammad Rizwan and were down to 0 reviews.
After a few quiet overs, Rizwan broke the shackles by hitting Shepherd for a boundary. But the West Indies kept things relatively tight. Babar broke the shackles again by hitting Shamar for a boundary. He pulled Shepherd away for a boundary as well and hit a cover drive as well. Rizwan got a streaky boundary away as the 100 came up in 19.3 overs.
Rizwan then hit Seales away for a boundary through mid-on. Motie was keeping things under check as well. The 50-run stand came up between the duo once again. But then Motie broke the stand getting rid of Babar for 47 off 64 balls with 5 fours and a six to his name. Flighted delivery outside off holding its line and turning away a fraction. Babar played down the wrong line and stepped out to miss it completely. Hope did the rest from behind the stumps. Salman Ali Agha came out to the crease next.
Salman got a reprieve as Roston Chase at first slip put him down. Agha got a boundary away off Blades. After 25 overs, at the halfway stage Pakistan were 127/3. Motie kept things tight at one end. Salman got a boundary away off Blades. Rizwan then hit a loose delivery from Motie for a boundary. Agha was not to be left behind as Pakistan got some quick runs at this stage.
Roston Chase was introduced into the attack as the 150 came up for Pakistan in 29 overs. Motie bowled another tight over as Pakistan were 156/3 in 30 overs. Roston Chase broke the budding partnership getting rid of Salman Ali Agha for 23 off 26 balls with 3 boundaries to his name.
Chase bowled a length ball on the stumps, Salman looked to work it away into the leg side but the ball got big on him as he ended up chipping it straight back to the bowler. The debutant Hasan Nawaz came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon. Runs slowed down a bit from here as Nawaz was made to work hard for his runs initially. Runs came in singles as West Indies tightened the screws. Rizwan soon got to his fifty off 59 balls.
Hasan Nawaz finally broke the shackles as he hit Chase for a maximum via a slog sweep over deep midwicket. Shamar Joseph came back into the attack and got rid of Mohammad Rizwan for 53 off 69 balls with 4 fours to his name. Shamar Joseph bowled a length delivery outside off seaming in, Rizwan attempted to work it to the leg side but missed it to get hit on the pads. The ball kept low and hit him right in front. The appeal and the umpire gave it. Rizwan reviewed in hope and saw three reds as the review was lost as well. Hussain Talat came in with Pakistan at 180/5 and in a spot of bother and got off the mark as well.
Talat decided to take on the bowling as he hit Chase for a boundary before getting a streaky boundary himself. Nawaz hit a boundary as well to Joseph as the 200 came up in 39.3 overs. Talat hit another boundary as Joseph lost his radar a bit. At the end of 40 overs, Pakistan were 209/5 needing 72 runs off 60 balls. Nawaz then was put down by Shai Hope off Chase, it was a difficult one.
Nawaz then took the attack to Jayden Seales hitting him for back-to-back boundaries to release the pressure. He then hit Chase for a huge maximum as he was keeping the Men in Green in the game. The 50-run stand between the duo came in a jiffy. Nawaz managed to get another boundary off Jayden Seales. Shamar Joseph bowled a tight 45th over as Pakistan needed 37 off 30 balls to win this one.
Blades bowled a decent over as well giving 6 runs. while Seales kept things tight as well even though Nawaz on debut reached his fifty in 48 balls. Gudakesh Motie dropped him at short third as West Indies were sloppy on the field. Talat joined in on the act as he hit Blades for a boundary and followed that up with a maximum. Blades bowled a no ball, but the free hit yielded a single as Pakistan now needed 12 off 12 balls.
Nawaz was in a hurry now as he hit Shamar Joseph for a maximum straight down the ground over the bowler’s head. And it was fitting that he hit the winning runs via a boundary soon after the 100-run stand came up between the duo as he hit the low full toss off Joseph through deep midwicket by flicking it to end the game. Hasan Nawaz remained unbeaten on 63 off 54 balls while Hussain Talat remained unbeaten on 41 off 37 balls. 23 extras given by the fielding side as the Men in Green were home with 5 wickets and 7 balls to spare.
Shamar Joseph got a couple of wickets in his 9.5 overs 2/65. Jayden Seales finished with 1/59 in 10 overs. Gudakesh Motie finished with 1/42 in 10 overs. Rostn Chase finished with 1/41 in 8 overs. Romario Shepherd bowled 4 overs for 20 runs and 0 wickets while Jediah Blades finished with 0/53 in 7 overs. So, Pakistan draw first blood in the series and for his impressive performance on debut, Hasan Nawaz was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, Pakistan lead the series 1-0 with 2 games to spare. The next game will be at the same venue and will be a day game on Sunday August 10th at Tarouba. Pakistan will want to seal the series win in this second game, while West Indies will aim to bounce back and level the series with crucial points on the line.
So, will West Indies bounce back? Or will Pakistan continue to stream roll them and get a series win for themselves. We will find out on Super Sunday in the evening when the match begins.
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