Pakistan Wins 5th ODI To Win Digicel Series 3-1

            Pakistan has won the final match of Digicel Series and also the Digicel Series 3-1. West Indies needed to win this final match to finish the bilateral series 2-2 but they failed to do so. Pakistan who was leading 2-1 prior to this match won the final match comprehensively by 4 wickets. Pakistan skipper again proved why he is the best batsman in the Pakistan batting line up even at the age of 39+ years.

Pakistan Wins Digicel Series 3-1

Toss : Pakistan won the toss and decided to field first.

West Indies Batting

West Indies opened their innings with the openers Charles and D Smith. But they lost the wicket of Smith and next in Darren Bravo in quick time within the score of 44. Samuels added 54 runs with the opener Charles before Charles got out scoring 43. Chris Gayle failed again and scored only 21 runs. Gayle was followed by the set batsman Samuels and Simmons quickly. West Indies could score only 170 runs losing 5 wickets in 45^th over.

Dwayne Bravo Scored Quick 48 runs

Captain Bravo came at no. 7 and added quick runs in last overs with the former skipper Darren Sammy. Dwayne Bravo scored quick 48 runs from only 27 deliveries while Sammy scored 29 runs in 18 balls together they added 23 runs. Bravo top scored in West Indies inning with 48 runs and he hit 5 boundaries and 3 lusty sixes to help West Indies to put up a respectable total of 242 runs on the board.    

Bowling

Md. Irfan picked up 2 Wickets for 24 Runs

Pakistan bowling looked a lot balanced and disciplined than earlier matches of the series. Junaid Khan picked up 3 wickets while Irfan and Ajmal picked up 2 wickets each. Md. Irfan bowled beautifully in his spell of 10 overs with the bowling figure of 10-1-34-2.

Pakistan Batting

Pakistani openers Jamshed and Shahzad gave a slow but steady start to the Pakistan team. Run out of the Jamshed at team score of 44 bring Hafeez in the middle who also gets out by the score of 51. Next man came in Pakistan skipper Misbah and he put up a healthy partnership with the Shahzad. Shahzad scored his first fifty in the series but he couldn’t last long and get out at the score of 64. Next came in H Sohail but he couldn’t last long too and gets out scoring only 17 runs. 

Ahmad Shahzad playing a Shot

Umar Akmal came in no. 5 to help his skipper to chase the target. Umar Akmal scorers quick 37 from 28 balls and put up partnership of 66 runs before getting out. This partnership virtually ended the match for the West Indies. Misbah completed another fifty in the ODI series and gets out just before the finishing of the game.  Afridi and Ajmal complete the formality and Pakistan wins the match by 4 wickets. Ahmad top 

scored for Pakistan in this win with 64 runs.

Bowling

West Indies bowlers failed again to contain the Pakistani batsman. Apart from the Tino Best, every bowler went for runs. Tino Best picked up 3 wickets for 48 runs while 1 wicket each was picked up by J Holder and  Sammy.

Man of the Match

               Pakistan Skipper was awarded Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series. Misbah Ul Haq excelled in the series both as a batsman as well as the Pakistan skipper. He was top scorer in the Digicel Series with 260 runs at the average of 65.00. 

               West Indies team has their chances in the match as well as in the series. But West Indies team failed to capitalize on the opportunities and they lost the series 1-3. Pakistan had some good results in their favor after the series of bad results in South Africa and Champions Trophy.

 

Holder and Narnie Shine in Tie Match of Digicel Series Against Pakistan

                 Third ODI of the ongoing Digicel cricket series in West Indies between the Pakistan and West Indies ended up as the tie. Both teams have already won one game each making the series 1-1. This was 700^th international ODI cricket match for the Windies team. Both team fought their level best to take 2-1 lead in the series, but the match ended up as a tie. This is 27^th tie in the ODI cricket history. The hero of the match was West Indies bowler Jason Holder who made it possible for the Windies team to end the match as tie. Haris Sohail made the debut from the Pakistan team.

Jason Holder the Star of 3rd ODI Match

TOSS: West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo won the toss and decided to bowl.

Pakistan Inning

Batting:

Pakistan opened their inning with N Jamshed and A Shahzad. They started the game very slowly and could score 29 runs in the mandatory powerplay overs. As they started to pace the scoring rate Sahzad got out who is followed by the Jamshed soon. Both departed at the team score of 39 runs. Now it was again on the Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq to build inning and he added 53 runs with Hafeez for 4^th wicket. Then with debutant Sohail Misbah put up another 60 runs partnership to take the score at 150 in 41^st over.

Misbah Ul Haq Guiding a ball during his inning of 75

Pakistan scored 38runs without losing a wicket in bating powerplay overs and Misbah completed 27^th fifty in ODIs. At 152, Haris Sohail got out, he was soon followed by the Misbah and Afridi. In 46^th over score of Pakistan was 174/6 and the responsibility to get respectable was on wicket keeper batsman Umar Akmal. Akmal added 52 runs with W Riyaz in last overs of the inning and helped Pakistan put up 229 on the board in 50 overs. U Akmal scored 40 runs from 31 balls hitting 6 fours. Misbah Ul Haq top scored for Pakistan with 75 runs.

Bowling:

Bowling from West Indies was quite wayward and undisciplined bowling 11 wides in innings. Captain Bravo and Holder picked up 2wickets each while 1 wicket picked up by Sammy and Roach.  

West Indies Inning

Batting:

Chasing the target of 230 West Indies openers fail again and both were back in pavilion by the team score of 16. In form batsman Darren Bravo and MSamuels tried to control the fall of wickets and also maintain the scoring of runs. West Indies completed their 50 in 16^th over and at the same score Bravo got out. Samuels then build up a partnership with next in L Simmons of 91 runs and provided stability before he got out at the same score.

Simmons added another 37 runs with skipper Dwayne Bravo before getting out scoring 75 runs. Departure of Simmons opened up the match for Pakistan and soon the score of West Indies was 191 at the loss of 8 wickets at the end of 47 overs. LSimmons scored 75 runs for the team.

Jason Holder Playing a Shot

West Indies needed 39 runs from last 18 balls with just 2 wickets and it looked as the match is over for West Indies. But Narnie scored quick 14 runs from just 5 balls of S Ajmal before getting out in 48^th over. West Indies needed 24 runs from last 12 balls but they could score 9 runs in 49^th over from Junaid Khan.

Last over 15 runs needed to win, first balls 1, second ball 1, Holder on the strike third ball 4runs, fourth ball dot, fifth ball a six, last ball 2runs and Holder has done it for West Indies. West Indies has managed to pull up a tie from the virtually lost match thanks to Jason Holder. 

Bowling:

Pakistan bowled brilliantly specially spinner Saeed Ajmal and Md Hafeez. Ajmal and Junaid picked up 3 wickets each. Md. Irfan picked up 2 crucial wickets while 1 wicket was picked up by Wahab Riyaz.

L Simmons and Misbah Ul Haq were jointly awarded Man of the Match

Misbah Ul Haq and L Simmons declared joint man of the match for the 3^rd ODI. Pakistan could have won this match if they could have bowled with more precision to the tail enders. But the Crdit must goes to Narnie, Roach and specially Holder who score 14 runs in last over to finish the match as tie. Fouth ODI of the Digicel cricket series is to be played on 21^st July at the Gros Islet, St. Lucia.

Pakistan Wins 4th ODI Leads 2-1 in Series Against West Indies

               Pakistan took a lead of 2-1 over the host West Indies by winning 4th ODI match of Digicel Series. The match was reduced to 49 overs for both sides due to rain. Marlon Samuels was the star for the West Indies as he scored 106 runs. Duckworth-Lewis again played the sports spoil role in the ODI cricket. Pakistan with the help D-L method and good hitting won this match by 6 wickets.

TOSS : Pakistan Won the Toss and Decided to Bowl first.

West Indies Inning

Batting:

West Indies open their innings with new opening pair Devon Smith and J Charles, while Gayle was sent to middle order. But the opening failed yet again and D Smith got at the score of 20. West Indies kept losing wickets and by the score of 63 they lost top 3 batsman. Samuels with next in Gayle stopped the falling of wickets and provided a partnership. But when it looked all set for West Indies, Gayle got out trying to hit a six. Now the onus was on the last match hero Simmons and Samuels to provide West Indies a solid partnership and take the team to a respectable total.

Marlon Samuels completed his 50 from 68 balls and also the 50 runs partnership for 5^th wicket. West Indies completed their 200 in 42^nd over of the inning. Simmons got out trying to score quickly and he made useful 46 runs. Samuels started playing big shot and he hit couple of sixes and fours getting closer to century while he kept losing partners on the other ends.

Marlon Samuels Celebrating His Century

Samuels completed his 5^th ODI century with a double of 2^nd last  ball of the inning and he finished the inning with huge six on last ball. The century celebration was very different from the West Indies and West Indians are famous for the diverse style of celebrations. Samuels hit 9 fours and 4 huge sixes in his 104 ball innings of 106. With the help of this century West Indies put up a total of 261 runs in the allotted 49 overs.

Bowling:

It was mix day for the Pakistan bowlers and Irfan with Hafeez started brilliantly. Irfan picked up wickets while 1 wicket went to Afridi, Junaid, Ajmal and Riyaz each.

Pakistan Inning

Batting:

As it has happened throughout the series Pakistan openers failed again. Pakistan lost first wicket at the score of 20. Hafeez and opener Jamshed gave the Pakistan of 40 runs before Jamshed got out. At the end of 17 overs Pakistan score was 65 and Misbah and Hafeez on the ground. Rain interrupted the match and due to which match reduced to 31 overs for Pakistan. Pakistan needed to score 121 runs in 14 overs to win this match and take a lead of 2-1.

As the match started again, Pakistan had no other option to go after the West Indies bowling and Hafeez started the scoring process. Hafeez and Misbah put a 50 partnership in just 42 balls. Hafeez got scoring 59 runs at the score of 132 in 24^th over. Next man in Shahid Afridi couldn’t last long and he too got out scoring just 7 runs.

Hafeez Hitting a shot in his 59 run inning against West Indies

Then Misbah along with Umar Akamal took Pakistan home thanks to the brilliant hitting from Misbah and Akmal. Misbah remained not out at the 53 in 43 balls while U Akmal remained unbeaten on 29 in 18 overs. Pakistan chased down the revised target of 189 in 30 over at the loss of 4wickets.  

Misbah playing a shot during his 50

Bowling:

Before the interruption from the rain match was going pretty much West Indies way, but rain costed West Indies the match. Their bowler couldn’t control the Pakistan batting. Holder, Roach and Dwayne Bravo picked up 1 wicket each.

Marlon Samuels was awarded Man of the match for his only century in the match. He was disappointed as his century couldn’t help West Indies to win the match. But the credit for win of Pakistan must be given to skipper Misbah Ul Haq and Md. Hafeez. Misbah has been consistent performer for the Pakistan in recent past.

Only one match left West Indies has an opportunity to finish the series with 2-2. But, for that they have to defeat Pakistan in last ODI of the series on July 24^th.
Third ODI of the series was ended in a tie.  

Shahid Afridi Wins 1st ODI for Pakistan Against West Indies

             Pakistan Cricket team touring West Indies for 5 ODIs and two T20s started their tour with a bang. Pakistan defeated West Indies team by 126 runs in the first Cricket match of 5 match ODI series. Pakistan team under the captaincy of the Misbah Ul Haq made couple of changes in the squad that played in the recently concluded Champions Trophy. Pakistani team recalled all rounder Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal for the series.

Toss: West Indies Won the Toss and chose to field first.

Pakistan Inning

BATTING:

             In first ODI of  cricket series, Pakistan batted first. They got very bad start as they lost their first four wickets at the score of 24 in 10th over of the inning. By 21^st over of the inning Pakistan lost half of their team for only 48 runs on the board. Next in batsman Afridi making comeback in team, started playing his natural game and scored freely while Misbah was playing the role of a good support and tried to stop the fall of wickets from one end.

            Afridi looked in form and hit number of sixes and fours all around the ground. He completed his 35^th ODI fifty and provided a solid partnership with the skipper. At the team score of 167 runs in 39^th over Afridi got out scoring  76 runs from just 55 deliveries hitting 5 sixes and 6 fours. With the dismissal of the Afridi falling of wickets started all over again and Pakistan team could manage to score 224 runs at the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Misbah played a marathon inning of 52 runs facing 121 deleiveries and insured that Pakistan scores a respective total.

Shahid Afridi playing a shot against West Indies

BOWLING

            West Indies bowlers Jason Holder and Kemar Roach played crucial role in containing the Pakistan score for 224. Jason Holder picked 4 wickets for 13 runs in his 10 overs and Roach picked up two important wickets for 38 runs. Jason holders ended his bowling in the match with incredible figures of 10-4-13-4. Captain Bravo picked up 2 wickets while Sammy also picked up 1 wicket.

West Indies Inning

BATTING

             In reply of the Pakistan score of 224, West Indies started very badly and lost the opener in first over. They lost their top order batsman like Gayle, Charles and Darren Bravo in the first 5 overs of the game. West Indies could score only 20 runs in the mandatory 10 powerplay overs and lost 3 important wickets. By the end of 23^rd over like Pakistan, West Indies too lost their half team for the score of only 41 runs.

            At the end of 25^th over score of West Indies was 48 runs losing 5 wickets while Samuels and Pollard on the crease. By the end of 30^th over, match was pretty much finished for West Indies team as they lost 7 wickets with 55 runs on the board.  West Indies bundled out at the score of 98 runs in 41st over. For West Indies Sammy top scored with 25 while Darren Sammy remained unbeaten at the score 21.

BOWLING

              Like in batting Afridi starred with bowl too and picked up 7 wickets in his 9 overs giving away just 12 runs. Afridi ended the match with the figure of 9-3-12-7 which is also his careers best bowling figure. Md Irfan started with a wicket in his very first over and picked up 2 wickets for 17 runs in the match.

Man of the Match Shahid Afridi celebrating after taking a wicket

                 Pakistan won the match by 126 runs. The star of the match was undoubtedly the Shahid Afridi who showed how important he is for the Pakistan line up. He starred both in batting as well as in bowling. He was adjudged Man of the match for his 76 runs and 7 wickets.  It was second instance in his career when he scored 50 or more runs and picked 5 or more wickets. West Indies failed as a batting unit and their bad form continues from the Celkon Trination series. With this win Pakistan leads the series to West Indies 1-0.