Pakistan thrash Windies, SA restrict Afghanistan

DUBAI: With the initial stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 underway, the Super 12 teams continued their build-up to the tournament ahead of joining the action in the second round.

Pakistan laid down a marker ahead of the Super 12s with an impressive seven-wicket win over defending T20I World Champions West Indies.

Spinners Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan conceded just 13 runs off their five combined overs as the West Indies top order got bogged down in Dubai.

A quickfire 23 off 10 balls from captain Kieron Pollard helped the Windies to 130/7, but Pakistan made short work of the target, knocking it off with seven wickets and 27 balls remaining.

Skipper Babar Azam stroked a composed 50(41) at the top of the order, but it was Fakhar Zaman who produced the fireworks, slamming 46 from 24 balls including a maximum to wrap up the win in the 16th over.

SA spin trio shine

The three-pronged South Africa twin attack of Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin defended a modest 146-run target as the Proteas beat Afghanistan by 41 runs in Abu Dhabi.

A steady 31 from Temba

Bavuma and Aiden Markram’s 48(35) set the platform in the first innings, with David Miller smashing 20 from 10 at the death to lift the total to 145/5.

Afghanistan’s reply got off to an inauspicious start, with openers Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai both dismissed without scoring.

As the required run rate crept up, Afghanistan were forced to take risks, and the wickets fell all-too regularly for the chase to ever gather momentum. Captain Mohammad Nabi top-scored with an unbeaten 34 in his side’s 104/8 off 20 overs but it was too little too late.