LAHORE  -  Hayley Matthews backed her economical bowling figures of 1/24 with a brilliant 78-run knock and powered West Indies to seal a comfortable eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the fifth T20I at National Bank Stadium on Friday.

Put into bat first, Pakistan women managed to amass a formidable total, courtesy of a gutsy knock by opener Sidra.The home side got off to a flying start to their innings and had amassed 34 runs in the first four overs with Ayesha Zafar leading the charge.Qiana Joseph then provided West Indies with a much-needed breakthrough as she castled Ayesha in the next over. Ayesha scored 22 off 16 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.

Following Ayesha’s dismissal, Muneeba Ali partnered with Sidra for a cautious stand which yielded 46 runs.The stand lasted in the 13th over when Afy Fletcher cleaned up Muneeba, who scored 25 off 19 balls, hitting three boundaries.Fletcher struck again in the same over and got rid of Pakistan captain Nida Dar (2).

The back-to-back dismissals ignited a middle-order collapse and Pakistan lost four more wickets in quick succession and consequently slipped to 116/7 in 17.4 overs.Sidra, on the other hand, carried her bat till the penultimate over and perished after top-scoring for Pakistan with a 52-ball 48. Her gritty knock featured five boundaries.

Later, Rameen Shamim (16) bolstered the home side’s total past the 130-run mark with a brisk cameo.Afy Fletcher led the bowling attack for West Indies with 3/17 in her four overs, followed by Joseph, who bagged two. Hayley Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne chipped in with a wicket apiece.It is worth mentioning here that West Indies lead the five-match series 3-1 against hosts Pakistan.

SCORES IN BRIEF

WEST INDIES WOMEN: 136-2 in 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33*) beat PAKISTAN WOMEN: 134-8 in 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25; Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26) by 8 wickets.