Pakistan became the first team in this year’s edition of the World Cup to enter the semi-final and West Indies were whipped out in a hurry. Once the Pakistani spinners had made a mockery of the West Indian batting by bowling them out for 112, it was a matter of time before Pakistan romped home to a win.
Mediocre targets can sometime prove tricky under pressure. Not that 112 was even mediocre given the flat nature of the pitch, but the approach taken by the Pakistani openers Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal downplayed any danger of an outside upset.
The very first over saw Hafeez going after Kemar Roach and hitting a couple of boundaries before another three came in the next couple. With 30 coming from the first three overs and 43 by the fifth, Roach had gone for 26 in his first three and West Indies were hurtling down to an easy defeat.
Devendra Bishoo and Darren Sammy slowed down the scoring but the wickets remained elusive for the side. Hafeez brought up his half-century and the side was led to a rousing 10-wicket win in the end. Pakistan broke no sweat in the end, and got to the total in the 21st over to complete a drubbing that West Indies will need some antidote for, and quickly.
West Indies skipper Darren Sammy was an elated man after winning the toss and deciding to bat first at the Shere Bangla in Mirpur. In a pressure game like this, it was always going to be an advantage but the side needed to bat responsibly.
They rarely did.
After Devon Smith had dispatched the first delivery of the game to the fence, Chris Gayle had smashed a couple of them as well, the Pakistanis came back with a spell of three wickets. Gayle was brilliantly caught by Afridi when he tried to spank Umar Gul over mid-off while Devon Smith and Darren Bravo were consumed by Mohammad Hafeez in the same over to leave West Indies struggling at 16 for three.
There were two partnerships that West Indies had, which were anything to boast of. First Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul added 42 for the fourth wicket, while the ninth wicket stand between Chanderpaul and Kemar Roach got 40. These two associations sandwiched what was a sorry performance by the middle and the lower-middle order, which lost five wickets for the addition of 13 only.
Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy got a single each while Devon Thomas and Devendra Bishoo failed to get even that.
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In the end, West Indies were bowled out for 112 with Chanderpaul ending unbeaten on 44. Afridi picked up four wickets, to prop his tally up to 21 in the tournament, while both Hafeez and Ajmal had a couple each.
Brief Scores: West Indies 112 all out in 43.3 overs (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 44*, Ramnaresh Sarwan 24; Shahid Afridi 4 for 30, Mohammad Hafeez 2 for 16) lost to Pakistan 113 for no loss in 20.5 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 61*, Kamran Akmal 47*; Darren Sammy 0 for 18, Devendra Bishoo 0 for 24) by 10 wickets.
Man of the Match: Mohammad Hafeez
