Windies prevail in thriller
Bowlers dominate as Pakistan lose by two wickets.
LONDON: The West Indies clinched a tortuous thriller over Pakistan by two wickets as the Champions Trophy got its first taste of top-rung bowling in helpful conditions, on a cold and clammy London evening on Friday.
After the hollow run-fest of the opening match between India and South Africa, Group ‘B’s two most mercurial teams provided contrastingly entertaining fare.
Pakistan, as is their wont, strove valiantly to defend the middling 170 that skipper Misbah ul Haq’s unbeaten 96 led them to, and the West Indies, although they ended the first half with a more than acceptable target, did their best to make a hash of it.
Another twist
Wrecked initially by the gigantic left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan and later by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, the Caribbeans build through partnerships between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels (63) and Kieron Pollard and captain Dwayne Bravo (43).
But with victory within grasp Wahab Riaz and Ajmal rocked them again, removing Pollard and Bravo in quick succession.
It took the bravado of tail-enders to pull Windies over the line, with Sunil Narine and Denesh Ramdin contributing priceless tidbits with the bat towards the end.
Roach lights up
It was Narine (3/34) and Kemar Roach (3/28) who had earlier destroyed Pakistan's unpredictable batting line up, in which nobody except Misbah and opener Nasir Jamshed (50) reached double figures.
The fiery fast bowler was an agent early of early destruction as he induced a careless swipe from opener Imran Nazir in the first over and went on to rattle Mohammad Hafeez’s stumps.
Asad Shafiq’s downfall, plotted through a series of well-directed short deliveries, left Pakistan on 15/3 in the seventh and was followed by a period of rebuilding, as Misbah joined Nasir Jamshed, who was waging a war of survival at one end.
Narine, fresh off IPL successful, arrested Pakistan’s progress to normalcy, although he was helped in no little measure by Jamshed’s lapse in concentration.
Captain's knock
Soon after reaching a patient half-century and with the team on 105/3, the left-handed opener hit the mystery spinner to the long-off, ending the most productive, 90-run, alliance of an innings.
Narine then removed Shoaib Malik for a golden duck and claimed Kamran Akmal on the cut off a carrom ball, as Pakistan sank again, this time to 138/9.
Misbah wasn’t done. He oversaw a couple of run-outs and firm resistance from the No.11 Mohammad Irfan and blended accumulation with attack. Big hits off Pollard brightened his strike rate and soon Pakistan’s captain was within one hit of reaching three figures.
Irfan’s 14-ball-long penance was jarred by a Ravi Rampaul bouncer – a kind of delivery that Irfan himself found great success in when the Windies began their pursuit.
The left-arm hulk took out Johnson Charles and Darren bravo and sent the chase headlong into a 94/5 abyss. From then on, even ten more than 170 may have led to a different result.
source: http:www.cricket.yahoo.com/
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