Windies run into Nawaz, Imam to embarrass themselves to a series loss

Roses are red, violets are blue, can the West Indians play spin- I simply have no clue!

Such was the state of befuddlement looking at a scorecard that once seemed promising (and capable) where it came to chasing 276 as set by Pakistan that one couldn't believe it when Windies found themselves bowled out for 155.

Was it just good bowling backed by intensity and discipline by Babar's army, or could the ever casual Windies too have contributed somewhat to Pakistan's series win?

We all have our answers, but it doesn't matter. What's happened has happened, and full credit to the gracious hosts for proving just why Pakistan cricket always has something exciting and telling on offer.

But when it comes to credit, there's not an awful lot you can give to Nicholas Pooran's team that perhaps let go of a second chance at winning despite being ahead of Pakistan's scoring rate in the earlier leg of its run-chase.

Implicit in this reckless batting performance rests the key question, one that the team, since its post-Lara and Chanderpaul era, hasn't quite been able to answer: can the West Indies really get on top of spin?

Could it be that the moment you make them counter a top-quality spin attack, and this was when Shadab Khan only took two, the Windies slip away without a fight?

Regardless, those who are entrusted with answering such probing questions must answer them. As fans, we can only note the key moments of the game that ultimately made the 2nd ODI a great contest:

Nawaz does it in style

Just a day back, Mohammad Nawaz had posted a cute little message in admiration of another Mohammad of the Pakistan team: Rizwan. In that text, Nawaz exclaimed, "Happy birthday to the humble fighter of Pakistan cricket."

It was only days after his birthday message that Nawaz, no less humble than any other figure in Pakistan cricket, found his big moment under the bright lights of Multan.

In taking his career-best ODI figures against the West Indies, a 4 for 19, the slow left-arm orthodox spinner emerged as a havoc-creating turner of the ball, much too difficult for the Windies to handle.

And definitely not what the Pooran-led side would've asked for in such a key contest of the series!

Though, to take a four-for is quite a regular thing nowadays in that conception of the sport where spinners have really fought back into the action. 

But to emerge with four wickets from a full quota of 10 overs whilst conceding 19- not a run more- is something starkly telling; it just goes to show the extent to which a batting lineup may have been spin-bullied.

Nawaz, who had only featured in 17 ODI's before the 2nd contest of the ongoing series, should be really proud of his effort and even more so that among the wickets he took whilst leaving the Caribbean batsmen breathless were those of Brooks, Pooran and King.

So is he the new troublemaker with spin the Windies would have loved to avoid but can't?

Fans back home in the Caribbean probably know the answer.

Is the team heavily dependent on Shai Hope?

For a batter, who only days ago found himself in elite company as he joined Sir Viv for being the third fastest to 4,000 ODI runs (88 innings), Shai Hope played a poor shot to get out to Afridi, which is when he'd only moments before struck an imperious whip to the on-side for a glamorous boundary.

But as seen in situations before, it appears that Hope's dismissal tends to drag the team back somewhat. A case in point being his 127, which still didn't prove to be enough for the Windies, which though was for no fault of Hope's.

Though, another telling reminder of the extent to which the Windies team is reliant on the elegant right-hander was this just-concluded ODI, where barring the Brooks and Mayers' stand, there wasn't anything at all that Windies could muster in the aftermath of the Shai Hope dismissal.

Hosein the lone bright star of a wailing Windies

After beginning on a low-key note, given his 1 for 50 in the first ODI, Akeal Hosein was back at it again in the second contest, where his 3-for did put brakes on the freewheeling Pakistani scoring.

Besides being only the fifth Windies batter to enter double-digit scores, his 14 off 21 seeming much too important a contribution in an otherwise woeful-looking 155 scorecard, Hosein took the key wickets of Nawaz and Rizwan, the latter making a surprisingly ordinary 15.

But the biggest wicket of them all was Babar Azam's, claimed beautifully through a fine return catch by Hosein of his own bowling. The captain had, once again, top scored for his side.

Imam's run-a-ball 72 - the game changer

After lending a strong contribution in the opening game of the series courtesy of a fluent fifty, Imam notched up another fifty and thus his first consecutive fifty-plus knocks versus the Caribbean team.

Timing the ball to perfection and never really looking perturbed despite newcomer Anderson Phillip finally seeming in good touch, Imam led Pakistan's assault over a Windies the hosts didn't find much difficulty in taming.

After his glorious couple of hundreds against the Australians, perhaps the left-hander will try and gather one against Pooran's side, which now anyways seems a down-and-out unit.

Woeful Windies batting and the usual lack of application

Only a team like the West Indies, 72 for 1 in ten overs could have stumbled to 120 for 7 inside their 24 overs.

Though, what was worse for the visitors was not just being bundled out for a paltry 155, but the fact that they had another 106 deliveries to spare when they folded like falling pins on a bowling alley.

Not that the Multan pitch assisted the Pakistan side so very well for it to be called a bowling alley; it was just application-lacking batting and batting sans a fixed approach that saw the men from the West Indies embarrass themselves.

The only saving grace, if one could say, was the earlier bits in the Windies batting, where Mayers and Brooks, the latter chipping with another fine knock of 42, seemed set for a run-chase.

Alas, that wasn't to be. After scoring one beautiful stroke too many, Mayers misexecuted a whack off Wasim, which was never there in the first place. 

This probably put pressure on Brooks, who'd looked solid until such time. Further chaos transpired when Pooran, so utterly lacking in runs, found no answer to a sharply turning one by Nawaz. 

Just where do the West Indies go from here, and one's not talking about their salubrious hotel in the welcoming city.

Probably find a way to not embarrass themselves as badly as they did hours ago on June 10?