After suffering a demoralizing whitewash at the hands of Australia, the West Indies are back in action this time to play 6 white ball games against Pakistan. The T20I leg will be played in Fort Lauderhill in Florida, while the teams will come back to the West Indies for the ODI leg later on. Both teams are struggling in the shortest format of the game and with the T20 World Cup 6-7 months away, it is important both start winning and find the right combinations.
West Indies are coming off a demoralizing whitewash in the 5-match series against Australia and their T20 performance hasn’t been great lately. While their opponents Pakistan have played lesser matches than them recently but they also suffered a shock series loss to Bangladesh in Bangladesh. So, both teams will be desperate to reverse the losses and come back stronger and what better way to make a comeback in the series.
Overview
Just to give all of you a context of where we stand ahead of the series, it is a face-off in which both teams are in desperate need of wins and series wins as well. West Indies lost badly to Australia at home losing 5 out of 5 games. They are having a bad time across formats but even in T20Is where they are supposed to excel, they are finding it tough to win games. Before the Australia series, West Indies lost 0-3 to England in England while they also lost to Bangladesh at home as well. They will seriously want to bounce back in this series.
Pakistan, on the other hand, have not played as many T20Is as West Indies in the recent past but will want to come back with a win. They suffered a shock 2-1 series loss against Bangladesh in Bangladesh where their batting malfunctioned and let them down in the first two games. As soon as it clicked in the final game, they won the game as bowling was never their issue. They also faced Bangladesh at home in May/June and won that 3-0. So, they have been lately involved in matches against Bangladesh have Pakistan.
West Indies boasts of a similar squad that faced Australia while Pakistan have recalled Shaheen Afridi back in the line-up. Both teams will be desperate for a win and Florida is a nice venue to have the T20 leg happening as it will give both teams equal chance to do well and get adjusted to the conditions. It is a home series for West Indies, but Pakistan won’t be pushovers and it may not be wrong to say that at this stage it is the battle of equals happening in Florida.
Head-T0-Head
West Indies and Pakistan have faced each other in 21 games so far and out of which it is the visitors who clearly dominate the Head-To-Head record. The two teams have faced each other 21 times with West Indies winning only 3 times while Pakistan has won a whopping 15 times. 3 matches have ended in a No Result. The first time that the teams met was in Gros Islet in April 2011. The last time these two teams met was in Karachi in December 2021. After that they have never clashed.
Pitch & Weather Report
The pitch at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium is generally good for batting. However, as the match progresses it is seen that the pitch slows down which can make it challenging for the batters. Spinners will slowly come into play during this period. The average first innings score in T20Is at this venue is around 165-170. Looking at the conditions, teams batting first could have a better advantage by cashing in on the powerplay and the pitch can get slower and lower as the game progresses.
The weather forecast at this stage in Florida suggests the conditions to be partly cloudy and humid. Even the next two matches scheduled at the same venue is also expected to have similar weather conditions. So, as of now there is no forecast of rain whatsoever to hamper proceedings. We hope that this prediction proves true.
Probable XIs for both sides
West Indies have named a similar squad that played against Australia while Pakistan have recalled Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Hasan Ali to bolster their bowling. Here we will try to decipher and predict what the probable playing XIS will be for both teams:
West Indies: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (c&wk), Keacy Carty, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Salman Ali Agha (c), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Key Players in Focus:
Brandon King: Brandon King will be the player in focus as he is expected to do well for his side at the top of the order. He had a decent series against Australia and the onus will once again be on him to provide West Indies with the start. He is naturally aggressive and will hope to give solid starts to his team. If King does well, it will go a long way in West Indies doing well.
Fakhar Zaman: Fakhar Zaman has had a quiet outing in the last few games and must step up for Pakistan. He is not only a key batter but a senior batter in the side with Rizwan and Babar not part of the T20 set up. Fakhar has the game to succeed in T20Is and has the shots to take the game away from the opposition. Pakistan will hope the southpaw stands up and lets his bat do the talking in order to succeed in this series.
Key Stats of the Ground in Florida ahead of the clash.
- The highest total at this venue is by West Indies who scored 245/6 against India in 2016. West Indies also hold the 3rd highest score at this venue scoring 209/2 against New Zealand in 2012.
- The lowest team total is by New Zealand who scored 81 in 2010 against Sri Lanka. West Indies also hold the third lowest score as they managed 95/9 against India in 2016.
- Pakistan have played just one game here and they beat Ireland in T20 World Cup 2024.
- The average run rate here is 7.86 across 17 matches with team batting first maintaining a run rate of 8.20 while team batting second run rate is 7.46
- Teams batting first have won 11 matches and lost 5 with one being a No Result.
- Rovman Powell has scored 158 runs from 8 games at 22.57 with one fifty, while Shimron Hetmyer has scored 142 runs in 6 matches at an average of 35.50 with 2 fifties to his name.
- Romario Shepherd has taken 5 wickets from 2 matches at an average of 13.20, while Shaheen Afridi has played one game and took 3 wickets in that.
Predicted Outcome of the Clash
It is tough to predict a winner at the start of a series, especially with two unpredictable sides facing each other. Based on stats and what we have seen, teams batting first tends to win more here, but we will not be surprised if the captain who wins the toss opts to chase considering the uncertainty of the pitch on offer. It will be a close contest one feels.
But looking at the track record of both teams and Head-To-Head between the teams, we reckon Pakistan will start as slight favourites going into the opening clash also because they got a morale boosting win against Bangladesh to end that series. West Indies are searching for a win. So, that’s why Pakistan slightly ahead, but count out West Indies at your own peril is what we feel as they can bounce back and roar like a lion.
Let’s see how the first game and this 3-match series shapes up as a whole. It will be a close fight one feels.
Also Read:WI vs AUS : “I Am Happy To Be Back”- Shai Hope Eager To Do Well In Test Side