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PAK vs WI | 2nd T20I: Flattened Windies need spirited performance to disrupt hosts' dream run

The international cricket returned with a bang in Pakistan and much to the delight of the fans at the National Stadium in Karachi and others watching from across the world, it produced a mammoth victory for the hosts. Pakistan played like a side who went to the top four of the T20 World Cup and hammered West Indies who were without significant experience and charisma in their lineup.

They were challenged when batting as the surface gripped for the Windies spinner but the men in green had too much batting depth and the Windies could not match their level for the entirety of the long game. The trio of Mohammed Rizwan, Haider Ali and Mohammad Nawaz pulverised their bowling attack to all parts of the ground.

With the bowl in their hand, Pakistan were merely challenged and once again there was on display the gulf between the quality of their bowling and Windies batting. There was odd fluency from the likes of the new skipper Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell but they could take the men in maroon only as far as 137 runs and Pakistan celebrated their return to home soil with a stupendous victory.

The action comes thick and fast nowadays with the shortest format of the game a series being scheduled at the same venue and hence Windies will have just one-night sleep to pick themselves up from a dispiriting defeat and take on the hosts once again in the do or die clash to save the series.

Match Details

Pakistan vs West Indies

Match number: 2nd T20I

Venue: National Stadium, Karachi

Date and Time: December 14, 06:30 PM IST, 01:00 PM IST

Pitch and weather

The surface used for the first game helped spinners form the word go and the left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein turned the ball from a straighter line and with the new ball. This will be the second game in as many days at the venue and it’s likely to be a used surface for this game and it will be slower and lower which would make life a bit difficult for the batsmen.

However, the onset of dew due to cold weather conditions can come as a boost for the batsmen and spinners can find it tough to grip the ball.

Team News

Pakistan 

There is no injury scare in the hosts’ camp and hence Babar Azam is all set to field an unchanged playing XI from the last game. The skipper himself has not been in great form with the bat in this format after a successful T20 World Cup campaign and he will be desperate to come back to his fluent best.

His opening partner Mohammad Rizwan once again laid the platform for their tremendous finish with the bat in the last few overs by the blitzkrieg of Haiden Ali and Mohammad Nawaz and there will be no dearth of expectations from the trio in the second game of the series as well.

Probable XI

Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi

West Indies

Pacer Odean Smith was taken to the cleaners by the Pakistan lower order batsmen and he ended up giving 56 runs in his four overs and Windies would mull replacing him with another spinner considering the conditions in Karachi. If they end up deciding to bolster their bowling attack, Hayden Walsh Jr. would be at the forefront to come in as a leg spinner.

Windies would also hope the experienced duo of Shai Hope and Pooran to score heavily and play the role Rizwan played for Pakistan in the first game that could open the door for other batsmen to play cameos and take the side to a position of strength.

Probable XI

Shamarh Brooks, Brandon King, Shai Hope (WK), Devon Thomas, Nicholas Pooran (C), Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Dominic Drakes, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

CE Fantasy XI

Nicholas Pooran, Babar Azam, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Dominic Drakes, Akeal Hosein, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

Captain: Mohammad Rizwan

Vice-captain: Shadab Khan

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Clinical Pakistan make easy work of inexperienced West Indies

Visitors West Indies stood no chance against Pakistan as they folded for just 137 runs to lose the game by 63 runs. The crowd at the Karachi Stadium saw a routing of the most ruthless proportions with Pakistan clinically taking apart West Indies in both innings of the game. Sent to bat first after losing the toss, Pakistan first notched up 200 runs and then wrapped the WI innings up with one over remaining. Things didn’t start perfectly though. The prolific Pakistan captain Babar Azam continued his poor patch of form from the Bangladesh series and got out in the first over for a two-ball duck. Things looked in control for the visitors even till the final over of the powerplay when Romario Shepherd removed Fakhar Zaman for 10 runs. Windies would have taken 35/2 in five overs anyday, given teams do not generally play in Pakistan conditions anymore. And that’s when it struck. A brilliant exhibition of shotmaking from Mohammad Rizwan and the art of tenacity from Haider Ali made sure that Pakistan did not lose their third wicket in the next 10 overs. From 35/2, the hosts went upto 140/3 when Rizwan got out in the 16th over. Haider’s innings especially stood out. Coming into bat when Akeal Hosein was bowling really well, the right hander took a long time to settle in. Scoring 12 from his first 14 deliveries, Haider look in a spot of bother having not connected a single ball from the middle of his blade. And then came the release. Haider connected three shots off Odean Smith in the 12th over and there was no looking back. From 12 off 14, he jumped to 27 off 18 and then completed his half century in just 28 balls. He did slow down a little after Rizwan’s dismissal but managed to score 68 off 39 balls and got out in the final over of the game. While Haider Ali dominated the middle phase of the innings, spinner Mohammad Nawaz took on the late hitting responsibilities to hit 30 runs off just 10 balls. This ended up shooting up the Pakistan run-rate in the last three overs of the game with the hosts managing to score 45 off the last 18 balls. Only Akeal Hosein proved to be effective on the day for West Indies and went for 4.75 RPO bowling in the opening phase of the game. He picked one wicket for 19 runs. West Indies innings Scoring 200 was never going to be easy for the Windies who did not have their big names playing in this series, but they ended up folding without even playing the full quota of overs. The feeling at the time was that Windies failed to see through the tough phases of play, but to be fair, they had a mammoth target to chase down against the likes of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan. However, none of these stalwarts were the best on the night and the limelight was stolen by the 20-year-old Mohammad Wasim Jr who constantly attacked the wickets and bowled out three players with his sheer accuracy. He removed the wickets of Nicholas Pooran with a searing off stump yorker and then immediately struck once again trapping Devin Thomas plumb in front with another yorker. He picked up four wickets in total. With the visitors losing three wickets inside the powerplay, the writing was already on the wall that they might lose the game with a big margin. And Pakistan pounced upon the same by doing the basics right. Most of their bowlers attacked the stumps, especially Shadab Khan who walked away as the most economical bowler of the night with figures of 4-1-17-3. After Shadab’s excellent performance through the middle overs, Wasim Jr cleaned up the Windies tail to seal victory for the hosts in the first match. The two teams do not have any time to lay off as they will have to take the field tomorrow itself, on December 14, Tuesday. It will be difficult for the Windies to get back from this loss without their star players, but that is something they already knew. Windies have come into the series with a cleanslate aiming to move away from the shadows of the super stars of the golden generation. Will they be successful? Probably not. But this will probably set them in the right direction for the next cycle of the International trophies.