Pakistan complete series whitewash
KARACHI, April 3, (AFP): Pakistan produced another imperious performance to beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final Twenty20 international in Karachi on Tuesday, completing a 3-0 clean sweep of the series.
The West Indies fared better with the bat compared with the first two matches, reaching 1536 in their 20 overs after winning in 16.5 overs.
Earlier, Fletcher added an invaluable 72 runs for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels who scored a 25-ball 31 with two sixes and as many boundaries.
Denesh Ramdin cracked a fiery 18-ball 42 not out with four boundaries and three sixes — two in the last over from Usman Shinwari — as the West Indies scored 57 in the last five overs.
Leg-spinner Shadab Khan finished with 2-27 while Mohammad Nawaz, Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf took a wicket each.
Two players made their T20 debuts on Tuesday — teenage paceman Shaheen Afridi for Pakistan and Andre McCarthy for the West Indies.
Pakistan won the first match by 143 runs and the second by 82 runs. Karachi hosted all three T20s, the first international matches in the city in nine years.
The series is the latest in a number of steps taken recently to help revive international cricket in Pakistan, which was suspended for years after a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
The victory on Tuesday also strengthened Pakistan’s position at the top of the world T20 rankings, with a four-point lead over second-placed Australia.
Since Sarfraz Ahmed took over as skipper in September 2016, Pakistan have notched up series wins over England, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and a World XI side.
WEST INDIES
Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman eyes on the ball before playing a shot during the third and final Twenty20 (T20) International cricket match between Pakistan and West Indies at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi on
April 3. (AFP)
C.WaltoncAzambNawaz .............. 0 A. Fletcher run out .......................... 52 M. Samuels b Shadab .................... 31 A. McCarthy c Zaman b Shadab ..... 5 R. Powell lbw Ashraf ......................... 2 J. Mohammed c Sarfraz b Shinwari 13 D. Ramdin not out .......................... 42 K. Paul not out ................................. 1 Extras: (lb6, nb 1) ............................ 7 Total: (for six wickets; 20 overs).. 153 Did not bat: R. Emrit, S. Badree, O. Smith Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Walton), 2-74 (Samuels), 3-90 (McCarthy), 4-95 (Fletcher), 5-96 (Powell), 6-140 (Mohammed) Bowling: Nawaz 4-1-26-1, Shinwari 4-0-34-1, Shaheen 4-0-27-0, Ashraf 4-0-33-1 (1nb), Shadab 4-0-27-2 PAKISTAN Fakhar Zaman c Ramdin b Emrit... 40 Babar Azam c Walton b Smith ....... 51 Hussain Talat not out ..................... 31 Asif Ali not out ................................ 25 Extras: (lb5, w2) ............................... 7 Total: (for two wickets; 16.5 overs) ..... 154
Did not bat: Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Shinwari
Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Zaman), 2-113 (Azam)
Bowling: Paul 2.5-0-37-0, Emrit 4-0-24-1, Smith 3-0-38-1 (w2), Badree 4-0-30-0, Mohammed 1-08-0, McCarthy 2-0-12-0
Result: Pakistan won by eight wickets Toss: West Indies Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Ahsan Raza (PAK) TV Umpire: Shozab Raza (PAK) ICC match referee: David Boon (AUS)