The visitors squandered an excellent opportunity to level the series, having fought back hard with the ball to keep the hosts to 275/8 in their 50 overs. However, they couldn’t capitalise on that comeback and were thrashed in the chase as Mohammad Nawaz bowled Pakistan to a 120-run win.
It was certainly a tale of two left-arm spinners on the day as Akeal Hosein caused enough damage to peg Pakistan back with the bat. The hosts had opted to bat after winning the toss and despite losing Fakhar Zaman early, they were in a very good position at the halfway stage. Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq were in their elements again and it was business as usual for the duo, who raised 120 for the second wicket.
Imam was the aggressive of the two as Babar took his time to get into his groove. But once the skipper found his mojo, he went on to register his sixth straight fifty-plus score in ODI cricket. However, against the run of play, Imam was run out for 72 and that gave West Indies an opening to bounce back. Babar chipped one back to Hosein and the left-arm spinner also got the key wicket of Mohammad Rizwan immediately. The wickets kept tumbling as at one stage, Pakistan lost four wickets for just 20 runs.
The likes of Shadab Khan, Khushdil Shah and Shaheen Afridi chipped in with vital cameos to get Pakistan to 275 but the visitors definitely missed out on an opportunity to go past 300 again. And in the chase, things again went in favour of the visitors as they got off to a flying start. Losing Shai Hope early didn’t deter Kyle Mayers, who went on a rampage, The left-hander kept finding the boundary as the run rate went over six for the West Indies.
With Shamarh Brooks also providing support, West Indies were scoring at 7 an over in the powerplay before the momentum turned again. Mohammad Wasim Jnr castled Mayers and Nawaz managed to rearrange Brandon King’s stumps in the very next over. After opening his account, Nawaz ripped through the West Indies lineup as he also went on to dismiss Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell as well.
At 117/6, there was no way back for the visitors to come back into the contest as things started unfolding pretty quick. Shadab and Wasim Jnr wrapped up the game by cleaning up the tail to hand their side an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Scores in brief
PAKISTAN 275/8 in 50 overs (Babar Azam 77, Imam-ul-Haq 72; Akeal Hosein 3/52, Alzarri Joseph 2/33) beat WEST INDIES 155 in 32.2 overs (Shamarh Brooks 42, Kyle Mayers 33; M Nawaz 4/19, Wasim Jr 3/34) by 120 runs.