Daily Times

LAHORE: Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim and Shadab Khan shared nine among them as Pakistan outplayed West Indies by 120 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Friday. Third and final dead rubber will be played at the same venue on Sunday (tomorrow). The hosts won the first ODI by five wickets. Chasing not that difficult target of 276, West Indies were bundled out for 155 in 32.2 overs. The visitors lost their opener Shai Hope, who hammered century in the first ODI, early at the score of four, with Shaheen Shah Afridi removing him in the first over. Later Kyle Mayers (33) and Shamarh Brooks (42) started building their innings but Nawaz and Wasim struck, sending both batsmen to the pavilion. The remaining batsmen proved to be an easy task. West Indies’ last hopes, Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran, were sent back within three balls of each other. Nawaz excelled with his spin bowling and finished with career-best ODI figures of 4-19 while Wasim chipped in with 3-34 on his comeback.

Earlier, skipper Babar Azam and opener Imamul Haq smashed half centuries to take Pakistan to 275-8 against some disciplined West Indies bowling. Babar scored 93-ball 77 and Imam run-a-ball 72 — both hitting sixth consecutive half centuries in successive one-day internationals — before the home team lost track in the middle overs. Pakistan, who won the toss and batted in the sweltering conditions in Multan, were cruising along nicely at 187-2 with Babar set for fourth hundred in as many ODIs when spinner Akeal Hosein dismissed the Pakistan skipper in the 36th over. Babar, who became the first batter in ODI cricket to score three hundreds in as many matches on two occasions on Wednesday, gave a return catch to Hosein. Babar, who hit five boundaries and a six, failed to equal Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four hundreds in as many ODIs scored in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. He had set the tempo with a 120-run second wicket stand with Imam — their fourth successive 100 plus stand — before Imam was run out, without watching his static partner while going for a single. The opener hit six boundaries. With departure of Babar, West Indies grabbed five wickets in the space of 23 balls for 20 runs to derail Pakistan, with Hosein (3-52) and Alzarri Joseph (2-33) sharing the spoils. Fast bowler Anderson Phillip also chipped in with 2-50. Joseph had Mohammad Haris (six) and Shadab Khan (22) while Hosein also had Mohammad Rizwan (15) and Mohammad Nawaz (three). Khushdil Shah (22), Mohammad Wasim (17 not out) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (15 not out) took the total past 250.

The series was set to be played in Karachi at the end of last year but was postponed after a number of Covid-19 cases in the West Indies camp. When the dates were finalised for the series this year, Rawalpindi was the chosen venue only for political uncertainty in nearby Islamabad forcing it to be shifted to Multan.