Daily Times

Babar Azam was the only highlight in the otherwise lackluster West Indies one-day international series that ended with a 3-0 victory for skipper Azhar Ali and his charges at Abu Dhabi’s Shiekh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday night. Babar hit his third successive hundred to anchor Pakistan’s clean-sweep of pathetic West Indies with a comfortable 136-run win in the third and final one-dayer. It was another imperious show by Pakistan who won the first two matches by 111 and 59 runs respectively – both in Sharjah. West Indies lacked aggression and big partnerships in the series, which gave Pakistan an ample opportunity to overwhelm their opponents with ease. The targets set by Pakistan in all three matches looked beyond West Indies almost from the start of their scratchy, plodding reply. Showing an inability to rotate the strike, against pace and spin alike, the West Indies’ batsmen got stuck and never approached the run rate required to mount a genuine challenge in the limited overs series.

On flat pitches that became slower and more sluggish over time, the best time for batting was at the very start. Lady-luck was Pakistan’s side who batted first after winning the toss in all three matches and made the most of the good conditions early on, racing to formidable totals that proved an uphill task for the visitors. Pakistan were right in their comfort zone, accumulating runs without the pressure of playing the fast-paced brand of limited-overs cricket that they have not yet adjusted to. The margin of victories could have been even bigger had Pakistan’s middle-and lower-order batsmen fully capitalised on the strong launchpad provided by the upper order. This was the second time Pakistan whitewashed a series of three or more matches in the United Arab Emirates – both against West Indies. Before this, they had done the same in 2008-09. Last time Pakistan put up two 300-plus totals in any ODI series or tournament was against Sri Lanka in the UAE in a five-match series in 2013. In this series, they’ve made scores of 284, 337 and 308. This was only the ninth such series for Pakistan.

Babar became only the third batsmen from Pakistan and eighth in the world to notch three hundreds in as many matches. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara holds the record with four centuries in as many games. Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbass and Saeed Anwar, South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock, and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor are others to achieve the milestone. Babar also set a new record for most runs in the three-match one-day series with 360, beating the previous highest of 342 by South Africa’s de Kock who set it at home in 2013.

The rout also followed Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash in the preceding Twenty20 series. The cleansweep also lifted Pakistan to number eight in the ICC ODI Rankings, displacing their opponents to nine. Since the 2015 World Cup, Pakistan had slumped to ninth after being routed 3-0 in Bangladesh and suffering defeats against England in the United Arab Emirates last year and in England and New Zealand. Having climbed to No. 8 on the ICC ODI Rankings, Pakistan should brace for a more challenging period as they try to secure a qualification for the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan need to be among the top eight sides by September 30, 2017 to gain automatic qualification into the World Cup. If they fail to make the cut, they will have to play a qualifier in April 2018. Hosts England and the top seven teams in the one-day rankings on September 30 next year will get a direct place in the World Cup. The bottom four teams in the standings will be joined by six Associate sides in a 10-team qualifying round in 2018 from where only two teams will qualify. For the West Indies, the last two weeks have been a disappointing and harrowing experience. Not much has clicked for the World T20 champs – be it with the ball or with the bat. Like the T20 series, the ODI series was also a one-sided affair as Pakistan made sure the big targets remained just that.