West Indies bounced back from their loss in the first ODI as they beat Pakistan by 5 wickets under the DLS method where rain affected play multiple times to reduce the game. West Indies played like a team in unison and played the key moments better without allowing Pakistan to get away. Pakistan put into bat first, batted with 3 rain delays in their innings and mustered 171/7 in 37 overs with Jayden Seales picking up 3 wickets and others chipping in.
Chasing a revised target of 181 in 35 overs, West Indies rode on captain Shai Hope’s 32, Sherfane Rutherford’s 45 alongside Roston Chase’s 49* and Justin Greaves’ 26* to get to the target in 33.2 overs even though Hasan Ali picked up a couple of wickets and Mohammad Nawaz picked up a couple of wickets as well. It means that the series is level at 1-1 as we head to the decider.
Jayden Seales’ 3-wicket haul restricts Pakistan to 171/7 in rain affected innings
The two openers for Pakistan Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub came out to bat while Jayden Seales had ball in his hand. Ayub got off the mark with a streaky boundary over the slip cordon. Jediah Blades shared the new ball with Seales as Ayub hit him for a boundary as well. Seales bowled a quiet over before Shafique hit Blades for a boundary through the covers.
Ayub looked in full flow as hit Seales once again for two more boundaries in the over. Ayub then hit the first maximum of the day as he hit Blades over deep backward point. Seales bowled a quiet over before Shamar Joseph was introduced into the attack. Shafique hit a boundary through cover and point region off Joseph. Seales broke the opening stand getting rid of the well-set Saim Ayub for 23 off 31 balls with 4 fours and a six to his name.
Seales bowled a length ball angling across outside off, Ayub slashed at it and got an outside edge that travelled to Justin Greaves at short third man who took a simple catch. Babar Azam came out to bat at 3 and he did not last long as he fell for a bronze duck to Seales who had two wickets in the over. Seales bowled a fuller length at off-stump nipping away after pitching, Babar looked to work it in the leg side but got an outside edge that went into crash into the off-stump. Captain Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat next.
Joseph bowled a tidy 10th over as Pakistan at the end of the mandatory powerplay were 39/2. Seales bowled another tight over before Shafique broke the shackles and hit a boundary off Joseph down the ground. Blades also kept things tight from the other end as Gudakesh Motie came into the attack. Motie bowled a good first over as runs came in singles at this stage. Blades also kept things tight as Pakistan were looking to rebuild the innings.
Rizwan broke the shackles by hitting a boundary off Motie. Pakistan were 60/2 after 16 overs when rain stopped play for the first time in the day. No overs were lost as the match resumed after 58 minutes of delay as there is an hour buffer time before overs are lost. Blades started after the break and got rid of Shafique for 26 off 40 balls with 3 fours to his name. Blades bowled a short ball with pace off the ball at the body of Shafique, Shafique looked to swivel pull it but checked his shot at the last moment. He failed to control it as the ball flew towards deep fine leg where Gudakesh Motie came forward and took the catch. Hussain Talat came out to bat at 3.
Motie bowled a tight over as Justin Greaves was introduced into the attack. Rizwan broke the shackles as he hit Greaves for a boundary. Talat joined in the party as he hit Greaves for a boundary through covers. Talat hit another boundary off Greaves as he was slowly getting into the groove. Gudakesh Motie struck as he got rid of Mohammad Rizwan for 16 off 38 balls with 2 fours to his name. Motie bowled a tossed up delivery from around the wicket at middle stump, Rizwan looked to play the sweep but the slower delivery beat him and pinged him on his front pad. Rizwan reviewed but Umpire’s call meant he had to walk back to the hut. Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next.
Salman got off the mark as Roston Chase was introduced into the attack. Chase bowled a good first over while Talat hit Joseph for a boundary. The 100 came up for Pakistan after 24 overs. Runs were coming in singles as both Chase and Joseph kept things tight. Talat hit Chase for a boundary before Roston Chase got rid of Talat for 31 off 32 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. Chase bowled a good length ball closer to the off-stump, Talat went for the cut and managed a bottom edge to the keeper where Shai Hope took a good reflex catch. Hasan Nawaz came out to bat next.
Joseph struck again getting rid of Salman Ali Agha for 9 off 18 balls. Joseph bowled a short of length ball angling at the middle and leg stump, Salman pulled at it but was not in control. He got it off the gloves and Shai Hope moved to his left behind the stumps and took the catch. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next. Hasan Nawaz got off the mark with a maximum hitting Chase over wide long-on.
Joseph bowled a tight over as Pakistan were 125/6 in 30 overs. Runs came in singles and twos for the next few overs. After 33.5 overs, Pakistan were 139/6 when rain came and put a halt to the proceedings and as we had lost time earlier, it was sure we were now going to lose overs. After a long pause, the match resumed as a 40-over game with West Indies target to be adjusted via DLS. The players were back on the field. Seales got a wicket after the break as he dismissed Mohammad Nawaz for 5 off 24 balls.
Seales bowled it full and outside off with pace off the ball, Mohammad Nawaz looked to go over covers but got an outside edge that went straight into the hands of Gudakesh Motie who was placed at short third man. He took the catch as Shaheen Afridi came out to bat next. He got off the mark straightaway. Afridi used the long handle well as he hit Motie for the maximum by slog sweeping over deep midwicket.
Hasan Nawaz hit the free hit ball from Jediah Blades for a maximum and he hit another maximum off Blades to end the over as 17 came off the over. Pakistan were now 171/7 in 37 overs when another rain break came and that meant the Pakistan innings came to a close. Hasan Nawaz was unbeaten on 36 off 30 balls with 3 sixes to his name while Shaheen Afridi was unbeaten on 11 off 7 balls with a six to his name. 14 extras given by the fielding side.
Jayden Seales was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies with figures of 3/23 in 7 overs while the others picked up a wicket each. Jediah Blades finished with 1/46 in 7 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 1/27 in 7 overs. Gudakesh Motie finished with 1/31 in 8 overs while Roston Chase finished with 1/26 in 6 overs. Justin Greaves bowled 2 overs for 16 runs. It meant that the revised target for West Indies was 181 and they had to get it in 35 overs as the game was reduced further.
All-Round Batting Performance Takes West Indies Over The Line
Chasing a revised score of 181 in 35 overs, West Indies openers Brandon King and Evin Lewis came out to bat while Shaheen Afridi had ball in hand. Lewis made his intentions clear as he got off the mark with a boundary off Afridi. King survived a LBW appeal as he was given OUT and he reviewed it to be overturned. Hasan Ali shared the new ball from the other end and he gave away 4 leg byes before dismissing King for 1 off 6 balls.
Hasan bowled a good length delivery outside off, King poked at it away from the body and got a faint outside edge which went straight into the gloves of Rizwan who made no mistake and took a good low catch. Keacy Carty came out to bat next. Afridi bowled a tight over before Hasan Ali dismissed the other opener Evin Lewis for 7 off 6 balls with a boundary to his name. Hasan bowled a hard length around off nipping back in from over the wicket. Lewis looked to punch but got an inside edge and it went straight into the gloves of Rizwan who made no mistake. Captain Shai Hope came out to the middle.
He got off the mark straightaway and got his first boundary off Hasan Ali. Afridi and Hasan bowled some tight overs as the West Indies were looking to rebuild the innings. Abrar Ahmed came onto bowl and Carty survived a close LBW call due to Umpire’s call which was in favour of the batter. Mohammad Nawaz came onto bowl next and kept things tight as at the end of 8 overs of powerplay, West Indies were 25/2.
Hope was adjudged LBW against Abrar Ahmed but the captain reviewed and got it overturned as height was the factor. Runs came in singles as Saim Ayub came into the attack. Hope broke the shackles as he hit Ayub for a welcome boundary. Carty also hit Nawaz for a boundary. Abrar soon struck for Pakistan as he got rid of Keacy Carty for 16 off 42 balls with a boundary to his name.
Abrar tossed it up outside off, Carty leaned into the drive through covers but failed to read the turn and it sneaked through his bat and pad gap to hit the stumps. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next. Salman Ali Agha was introduced into the attack and was welcomed with a maximum from Hope. Abrar bowled a tight 15th over. Rutherford survived a scare as Rizwan dropped a tough chance off Agha.
Rutherford was determined to make Pakistan pay as he took on Shaheen Afridi by hitting him for a maximum and followed it up with back-to-back boundaries off the bowler. Rutherford was in the zone as he now took on Salman Ali Agha and deposited him over extra cover for the maximum and then hit a boundary and a maximum in the same over to put pressure on Pakistan. He once again hit a boundary to make it 20 runs off the over as 100 came up for West Indies in 18 overs. ‘
Rutherford was once again dropped by Abrar off his own bowling as the southpaw got another reprieve. Nawaz came back and dismissed Shai Hope for 32 off 35 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name. Nawaz flighted the ball up at off-stump, Hope looked to go for an off-drive but it turned hugely away from him and he got beaten. Rizwan took off the bails in a flash and the TV umpire looked at it and saw the batter was short of his ground. Roston Chase came out to bat next and got off the mark. West Indies were 103/4 in 20 overs.
Abrar bowled a tight over just to increase the pressure a little bit. Nawaz struck again getting rid of Sherfane Rutherford for 45 off 33 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Nawaz bowled a short of a length outside off turning into the batter, Rutherford decided to take it on and went for the pull shot over deep midwicket. He got the elevation but not the distance as the ball went straight into the hands of Shafique who took the catch easily. Justin Greaves came out to bat next.
Ayub bowled a decent over as West Indies had to rebuild again. Nawaz was not giving anything away either. Runs came in singles as the boundaries had dried up before Chase broke the shackles by smashing Ayub’s short delivery over deep midwicket for the maximum. Another maximum came in the same over as Ayub was taken to the cleaners by Chase. Hasan Ali came back into the attack and Chase hit him for a boundary as well as he was on a roll. Afridi kept things relatively tight from one end. Chase hit Hasan Ali for a boundary as the 150 came up for the hosts in 29.2 overs.
Chase survived a caught behind appeal off Hasan as Rizwan burned a review. West Indies now needed 27 off 30 balls. Soon, the 50-run stand came up between the duo. Chase hit Abrar for a boundary as Chase as controlling the chase now. Greaves joined the party as he smashed Hasan Ali for the maximum over wide long-on. Afridi gave away 4 leg byes away to West Indies. Soon, the score was levelled after 32.4 overs.
The winning moment came off the blade of Roston Chase as he smashed Hasan Ali for a boundary through deep cover as West Indies got over the line with 5 wickets and 10 balls to spare under DLS method. Chase remained unbeaten on 49 off 47 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Greaves remained unbeaten on 26 off 31 balls with a maximum to his name. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
Mohammad Nawaz was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 2/17 in 7 overs. Hasan Ali finished with 2/35 in 6.2 overs. Abrar Ahmed picked up a wicket in his 1/23 in 7 overs. No wickets for Shaheen Afridi while Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha were expensive to say the least. So, West Indies win and level the series and for his all-round display, Roston Chase was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead.
West Indies have levelled the series 1-1 setting up a decider on Tuesday night. It will be a winner takes all match on Tuesday 12th August at 7PM IST. The series is nicely set up for an epic finish and anyone can win on that day.
Will the hosts keep this momentum going and win the series to garner crucial points in the standings? Or will Pakistan bounce back and win the last match to take out the ODI series as well? It is all to play for now as we are set for an exciting finish to the series, the last match of the tour at the same venue.
Also Read: WI vs PAK: Concerns For West Indies’ Bowling Unit After Embarrassing Defeat