Akram hits form as West Indies crumble

It was Pakistan’s first win in three matches against West Indies on their fifth tour of the Caribbean and gives them a 1-0 lead in the finals which conclude in Port-of-Spain on Saturday and Sunday.

After opening batsman Sherwin Campbell was caught behind off Waqar in the eighth over, there was a stand of 86 between Philo Wallace and Wavel Hinds that carried the total from 13 for one. The timing of the two batsmen however, was badly askew and they wasted precious overs and the pressure mounted on West Indies to score heavily in the second half of the innings which they were unable to accomplish because they kept losing wickets.

Wallace, whose 47 off 91 balls was the top score, struggled through the first half of his innings. A dashing batsman, he must be given credit for not throwing his hand away during that period when he totally bamboozled by leg-spin bowler Mushtaq Ahmed. Hinds kept things ticking over at the other end until Wallace found his range and exploded with three of his seven fours to the square leg boundary off Arshad Khan in the 27th over and ten of 11 of Waqar in the 29th over.

Mushtaq however, claimed his wicket with the final ball of his tenth over after being struck for a six over square leg in his seventh over, when the Barbadian swung a delivery down the throat of deep square leg fielder Yousuf Youhana in the 32nd over. His dismissal saw the West Indies innings go into sharp decline with wickets tumbling at regular intervals to hurt them every time it looked like they were trying to fight their way out of the mud.

Earlier, West Indies had given themselves a chance by restricting Pakistan. Inzamam-ul-Haq led the way with 66 off 86 balls and former captain Wasim Akram hit 42 off 36 balls in the dying overs to give Pakistan a lift after they chose to bat on a hard, true pitch under sunny skies.

In another disciplined bowling performance from West Indies, they tied down Pakistan’s batsmen in the mid-section of the innings and forced them into playing some reckless strokes that brought the decline. Once more, Pakistan suffered from a bad start losing opening batsmen Shahid Afridi, caught behind off Curtly Ambrose for 17, and Imran Nazir, caught at mid-off off Reon King for 12, inside the first ten over to be 32 for two.

A stand of 49 between Inzamam, who reached 7,000 runs in limited-overs internationals with his third run, and Younis Khan helped Pakistan recover from the early setbacks, but the batsmen grew restless and West Indies broke through in the 28th over. Younis was run out by Jimmy Adams’ throw from cover to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs for 23 off 60 balls and it precipatated a period during which five wickets tumbled for 53 in 12.3 overs.

Wasim and Mushtaq batted out the last 7.5 overs to add a valuable 53 runs and boost Pakistan’s total which was lower than India’s 199 batting first against West Indies three years ago.

PAKISTAN

Imran Nazir c Wallace b King 12
Shahid Afridi c Jacobs b Ambrose 17
Younis Khan run out 23
Inzamam-ul-Haq c&b McLean 66
Yousuf Youhana lbw King 8
Moin Khan b Adams 0
Abdur Razzaq run out 7
Wasim Akram not out 42
Waqar Younis c Jacobs b Gayle 0
Mushtaq Ahmed not out 11
Extras (lb2, w6, nb3) 11.
Total (8 wkts-50 overs) 197
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-32, 3-81, 4-100, 5-101, 6-137, 7-140, 8-144
Bowling: Ambrose 10-0-35-1 (w1); King 10-1-37-2 (w3); McLean 10-1-36-1; Rose 10-1-41-0 (nb2); Gayle 6-0-26-1 (w1); Adams 4-0-20-1 (nb1, w1).

WEST INDIES

P Wallace c Youhana b Mushtaq 47
S Campbell c Moin b Waqar 11
W Hinds c Moin b Waqar 35
C Gayle run out 8
J Adams b Razzaq 7
R Jacobs c Younis b Arshad 0
S Joseph b Afridi 28
F Rose b Afridi 11
N McLean run out 1
C Ambrose c (sub) Malik b Afridi 11
R King not out 2
Extras (b1, lb4, w12, nb2) 17
Total (all out – 49.3 overs) 180
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-99, 3-105, 4-121, 5-122, 6-123, 7-145, 8-146, 9-175
Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-0-30-0 (w1); Waqar Younis 9-0-34-2 (w7); Abdur Razzaq 10-1-38-1 (w2); Mushtaq Ahmed 10-2-23-1 (nb2); Arshad Khan 7-0-34-1; Shahid Afridi 3.3-0-16-1
Result: Pakistan beat West Indies by 17 runs to lead best-of-three finals 1-0.