Caption: Hasan Nawaz, right, and Hussain Talat carried Pakistan to victory in the opening ODI against West Indies
TAROUBA – Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Talat piloted Pakistan to an impressive five-wicket victory over the West Indies in the opening One Day International here at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Debutant Nawaz and Talat, playing in only his second ODI, shared an unbroken 104-run partnership to rescue Pakistan and carry them to 284 for five in 48.5 overs in reply to the West Indies’ total of 280 in 49 overs.
It gave them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and moved them within one game of extending their 33-year unbeaten run against the Windies in bilateral ODI series.
The visitors suffered an early setback in their run chase when Saim Ayub edged Jayden Seales behind after scoring just five and 16 runs on the board.
Babar Azam joined Abdullah Shafique at the crease and the pair added 47 runs, before the latter was out lbw to Shamar Joseph following a review.
Azam and captain Mohammed Rizwan then added 55 runs to put Pakistan in a comfortable position of 118 for two in the 24th over.
But three runs short of a 20th ODI half century, Azam walked past a delivery from spinner Gudakesh Motie and was stumped for 47.
Salman Agha made a quickfire 23 from 26 balls before he was caught and bowled by off spinner Roston Chase to leave Pakistan 158 for four in the 31st over.
His dismissal brought Nawaz to the crease, and he looked uncertain at the start of his innings while mustering two runs from the first 10 balls he faced.
Rizwan though, continued to look positive and brought up his 16th ODI half century off 59 balls with a single to backward point off Chase.
Nawaz finally got going by smashing Chase over square leg for six, but West Indies struck shortly after when Joseph trapped Rizwan lbw for 53 off 69 balls, as Pakistan slid to 180 for five.
Needing 101 runs in 76 balls for victory, Talat joined forces with Nawaz and completely took the match away from the home side over the course of 11 overs, scoring at over nine runs an over.
Talat started aggressively, hitting Chase for two boundaries in the 39th over, before Joseph delivered a sloppy over that went for 17 runs, including two fours.
Nawaz then drove Seales for two consecutive boundaries in the 42nd over, that helped bring the equation down to 59 from 48 balls.
West Indies spurned the perfect opportunity to break the partnership when Motie dropped a simple catch to dismiss Nawaz with the batter on 49 and the score 253 for five in the 47th over.
It allowed Nawaz to scamper a single and score a maiden ODI half century on debut.
Talat then hit Jediah Blades for a four and six off consecutive deliveries in the 48th over that all but sealed the contest, leaving Pakistan requiring 12 runs off 12 balls.
They would get those runs in the penultimate over bowled by Joseph, which saw Nawaz clobber him for a six before ending the match with a four over midwicket.
Player-of-the-Match Nawaz finished unbeaten on 63 from 54 balls with five fours and three sixes, while Talat ended on 41 not out off 37 balls with four fours and one six.
Joseph was the Windies’ best bowler with 2-65.
Earlier, half centuries by Evin Lewis, captain Shai Hope and Roston Chase helped the West Indies post a competitive total after they were sent in to bat.
Opener Brandon King made just four before he was caught off the bowling of pacer Shaheen Afridi, but Lewis and Keacy Carty added 77 runs for the second wicket to see the home side progress to 81 for one in the 15th over.
Spinner Sufiyan Muqeem broke the partnership by dismissing Carty for 30, but Lewis continued his assault to bring up his 12th ODI half century with a towering six off Faheem Ashraf.
He reached 60 off 62 balls when he skied Ayub to long on where Afridi took a good catch and when Sherfane Rutherford was dismissed by Salman Agha, West Indies had slumped to 136 for four in the 26th over.
However, Hope, who scored 55 from 77 balls, Chase, who hit 53 off 54 balls and a cameo from Motie who made 31 off just 18 balls, helped the Windies up to their eventual total. (CMC)
For Pakistan Afridi took 4-51 and Naseem Shah grabbed 3-55.
Scoreboard
West Indies
Brandon King c Babar Azam v Shah Afridi 4
Evin Lewis c Shah Afridi b Saim Ayub 60
Keacy Carty c Salman b Muqeem 30
*Shai Hope c Rizwan b Shah Afridi 55
Sherfane Rutherford c Saim Ayub b Salman 10
Roston Chase c Babar Azam b Naseem Shah 53
Romario Shepherd c Shafique b Shah Afridi 4
Gudakesh Motie b Naseem Shah 31
Shamar Joseph b Shah Afridi 8
Jayden Seales not out 1
Jediah Blades b Naseem Shah 0
Extras (b4, lb, 8, nb 2, w10) 24
TOTAL (ten wickets; 49 overs) 280
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-81, 3-105, 4-136, 5-200, 6-215, 7-233, 8-262, 9-280, 10-280
Bowling: Afridi 8-0-51-4, Shah 8-0-55-3, Ayub 10-1-48-1, Muqeem 10-0-52-1, Agha 10-0-44-1, Asraf 3-0-18-0.
Pakistan
Saim Ayub c Hope b Seales 5
Abdullah Shafique lbw Joseph 29
Babar Azam st Hope b Motie 47
Mohammad Rizwan c+ lbw Joseph 53
Salman Agha c&b Chase 23
Hasan Nawaz not out 63
Hussain Talat not out 41
Extras (lb4, nb 2, w17) 23
TOTAL (five wickets; 48.5 overs) 284
Did not bat: Faheem Asraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqueem
Bowling: Seales 10-1-59-1, Blades 7-0-53-0, Joseph 9.5-1-65-2, Motie 10-0-42-1, , Shepherd 4-1-20-0, Chase 8-0-41-1.
Result: Pakistan won by 5 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Player-of-the-Match: Hasan Nawaz
Umpires: Deighton Butler, Allahuddien Paleker
TV Umpire:
Reserve Umpire: Zahid Bassarath.
Match Referee: Richie Richardson.
