PAK vs WI | 2nd T20I: Romario Shepherd's late hitting not enough as Pakistan take unassailable lead

Romario Shepherd, the lower order batter from West Indies hit some lusty blows at the end of the innings. And at one point in time when he hit the second ball of the last over for a six and brought down the equation to 15 from four balls and then subsequently to 11 from two balls after hitting a four on the fourth ball. It seemed as if there would occur some miracle, but it wasn't to be. 

Even though the fifth ball was hit like a tracer bullet, Asif Ali put his body on the line at extra cover and prevented certain boundaries to give West Indies any chance of hitting a six on the last ball and get the game in the super over. Rather on the last ball, Haris Rauf, the bowler removed Oshane Thomas as Shepherd had changed strike and Pakistan were able to get West Indies all out twice in two games. 

With this nine-run win, the Babar Azam led team has now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series having won the first T20I by a huge margin of 63 runs on Monday, December 13th.

Although the chase got pretty tight in the end, it wasn’t like that all the way for the West Indies. Their start to the 173 run chase was not ideal as they lost opener Shai Hope at the team score of only 17 in the third over. Hope had scored one run off six balls. Shamarh Brooks who came to replace him also went out cheaply even as Brandon King was scoring smoothly from the other end. 

The 26-year-old King found an able partner in Windies skipper Nicholas Pooran as the two added 54 for the third wicket. Pooran got too ambitious and even after hitting one six in the over, he tried clearing the field twice and was caught brilliantly by Rauf off the bowling of Mohammad Nawaz. 

The right-handed King who reached his maiden fifty meanwhile tried to steer the ship alongside Rovman Powell but failed and both Powell and King departed in quick succession to leave the men in maroon reeling at 118-5, still requiring 55 off 28 balls. After that, players came and they went, but Shepherd, who had joined the crease after the fall of King’s wicket kept on hitting them far and wide. 

But in the end, it wasn’t enough as Pakistan bowlers held their nerves and did not allow him to run away with the game even as the tall Caribbean remained unbeaten on 35 off just 19 balls. 

Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the men in green once again had a false start as their captain Babar failed twice in two games, only this time he was run out as Mohammad Rizwan, his partner at the other end ran by tapping the ball and Hayden Walsh Junior was quick enough to get the bails removed before Babar could even come in the frame. 

Fakhar Zaman too followed Babar back to the pavilion. But the two batters after that, Iftikhar Ahmed and Haider Ali tried building partnerships. First Haider built a 48 run stand with Rizwan and then a 23 run stand with Iftikhar to get Pakistan to 109-3 in the 14th over before getting out on the last ball of the same over. 

Mohammad Nawaz and Asif Ali didn’t get going either and if it wasn’t for Shadab Khan’s unbeaten 28 runs off 12 balls, it would have been hard for Pakistan to get past 170. While Rizwan made 38 off 30 balls, Haider and Iftikhar scored 31 and 32 respectively.