Afridi, Babar heorics seal thrilling win for Pakistan

[Mirza Ghalib]

Afridi, Babar heroics seal thrilling win for Pakistan

KINGSTOWN: Thirty-four-year debutant Zulfiqar Babar took three key wickets then struck a six off the final ball of the match to give Pakistan a two-wicket victory over West Indies in the first Twenty20 international on Saturday.

Babar dismissed Marlon Samuels (25), Lendl Simmons (6) and Dwayne Bravo (25) to finish with three for 23 from his four overs in West Indies' 152 for seven at Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent.

The visitors lost wickets at regular intervals in their run-chase but were always up with the required rate and, with the scores tied and one ball to go, Babar launched Samuels over the mid-off boundary to seal the win.

Kieron Pollard (49 not out) showed a welcome return to form as he anchored the West Indies innings after they had won the toss and elected to bat.

Pakistan lost early wickets in their reply, but Umar Amin, also playing his first T20 international, smashed 47 in 34 balls before he was stumped off the bowling of Samuels.

Shahid Afridi took Pakistan close, scoring 46 from just 27 deliveries, including launching his 400th six in all international cricket.

With Pakistan needing six off the last over, Samuels took his team to the brink of a super over, before bowling a full toss that Babar smashed for six from the final delivery.

“It was a great effort from the players, I was really happy to see the desire to win and really happy with the contributions of the debutants and Shahid Afridi. It was a tough chase, we had to be positive,” Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said.

The second and final match of the series will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

Teams:

West Indies: D. Sammy (captain), C. Gayle, J. Charles, M. Samuels, L. Simmons, D.J. Bravo, K. Pollard, D. Sammy, S. Narine, T. Best, S. Gabriel.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Hammad Azam, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan.

Umpires: G Brathwaite and P Nero TV umpire: J Wilson Match referee: D Boon Reserve umpire: D Butler

[Mirza Ghalib]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QenPJ0uz_c

[Mirza Ghalib]

Pakistan triumph over Windies to clinch T20 series

2013-07-29

KINGSTOWN: Pakistan wrapped up their tour of the West Indies with an 11-run win in the second Twenty20 international in St Vincent on Sunday to complete a one-day double over the world T20 champions.

The visitors ran through the home team's top order at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown to lay the foundation for success as they defended a modest target of 135 for seven by restricting the West Indies to 124 for nine from their 20 overs.

It ensured a successful conclusion to Pakistan's tour on the back of a 3-1 win in the five-match ODI series played in Guyana and St Lucia.

Opener Ahmed Shehzad scored a breezy 44 in 53 balls but was not supported by his partners. His departure for the fourth wicket in the 13th over brought Umar Akmal to the crease and he took over the scoring responsibility on a slow track.

While spinner Sunil Narine threatened to sweep through the rest of the Pakistan batting, taking three wickets in a second spell at the end of the innings, Akmal helped push the tally to 135 with an unbeaten 46 off 56 balls.

In reply, West Indies lost their first three wickets in three overs, including another failure for Chris Gayle, who lobbed a ball straight to cover and was out for one.

Dwayne Bravo, Narine and Kieron Pollard threatened a dramatic rescue, even though the asking run rate went to more than 12 an over.

During a dramatic 17th over, Pollard smashed 20 runs off the first four balls with two sixes landing on the roof of the stand.

Zulfiqar Babar then had him caught in the deep and took a second wicket with the next ball, dismissing Bravo in similar fashion. Tino Best, the last man in, threatened some drama too with two huge sixes but fell short in the end.

Teams:

West Indies - D. Sammy (captain), C. Gayle, J. Charles, M. Samuels, L. Simmons, D.J. Bravo, K. Pollard, D. Sammy, C. Barnwell, S. Narine, T. Best.

Pakistan - Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Hammad Azam, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali.

Umpires: G Brathwaite and J Wilson

TV umpire: P Nero

Match referee: D Boon

Reserve umpire: D Butler

http://www.dawn.com/news/1032540/pakist ... t20-series

[Mirza Ghalib]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMd8B6u-TLs