Pakistan self-destruct,hand WI win

Pakistan returned to their self-destructive ways as West Indies completed a 37-run victory in the second One-Day International at the Guyana National Stadium

Pakistan returned to their self-destructive ways as West Indies completed a 37-run victory in the second One-Day International at the Guyana National Stadium. Solid contributions by the Bravo brothers,Darren and Dwayne,boosted the West Indies batting effort after they had gotten off to the worst possible start when giant left-arm fast bowler Mohammed Irfan had Chris Gayle caught at the wicket in the first over of the day.

Two days after demolishing the hosts by 126 runs,the visitors folded for 195 off 47.5 overs in reply to the Caribbean sides total of 232 for eight after they were put in on a pitch expected to offer considerable assistance to the bowlers.

Pakistan appeared to be cruising along at 103 for two with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq well entrenched and opener Nasir Jamshed 54 riding his luck towards a half-century. But Misbah played a shot

totally out of character to be bowled by Darren Sammy. That dismissal was followed by a succession of poor shots and with spinner Sunil Narine returning to wicket-taking form in snaring four for 26 to claim the Man of the Match award,a rearguard 50 by wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal proved to be too little,too late for Pakistan.

With the series now level,the teams travel on to St Lucia for the remaining three matches,beginning on Friday,before the short tour concludes with two T20 matches in St Vincent on July 27 and 28.

Darren Bravos top score of 54 paced his team through the first half of the innings while skipper Dwayne Bravo provided vital impetus in holding the latter half of the innings together with an unbeaten 43 that proved critical in helping the Caribbean side to a challenging score.

Given the nature of the pitch,I thought 230-235 would have been a good total, said Dwayne Bravo after he completed victory with the last two wickets off consecutive deliveries. We really needed this win to get some confidence back and we cant forget the fans,because they are the ones who suffer the most when we play as badly as we did last Sunday.

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Shahid Afridi,the star of that opening encounter,claimed two wickets,as did Saeed Ajmal,the pair threatened to stifle the home team as they did so effectively two days earlier. Afridi could not replicate his heroics with the bat however,one wild swing too many bringing about his demise via a stumping.

Our bowlers didnt use the moisture in the pitch well, said Misbah. The pitch then got slower and lower so it made life really difficult for us when we batted. We didnt help our cause by some bad shots.

Brief scores: West Indies 232/8 Darren Bravo 54,Dwayne Bravo 43; Afridi 2/29 bt Pakistan 195 all out in 47.5 overs N. Jamshed 54,U Akmal 50; S Narine 4/26,Bravo 2/9 by 37 runs.