A clash between two 'unpredictable' sides turned out to be an anti-climax as Pakistan breezed past West Indies endorsing the fact that they are no more predictably unpredictable. West Indies batting had no clue against Pakistan spinners after the explosive Gayle was nipped out early. It was simply no contest after-wards.
Gayle, Chanderpaul and Roach replaced Edwards, Benn and Andre Russell as West Indies made three changes. Pakistan continued to bench Shoaib but brought Saeed Ajmal for Abdur Rehman to counter West Indian left-handers. Darren Sammy could not hide his smile when he opted to bat first after winning the toss on a low and slow wicket.
Devon Smith cracked first ball from Gul for a four but Gul came back strongly and gave nothing away after that. Mohammad Hafeez started from the other end against Chris Gayle and bowled within stumps. After hitting Gul for a boundary by coming down the track, Gayle tried to repeat the shot by going deep into the crease but to his horrors he found Afridi in the way. The ball was traveling like a tracer bullet but Afridi pouched it safely moving to his right at mid-off. It was a body blow for West Indies which lifted Pakistan and eased their nerves.
Hafeez who was bowling miserly got two wickets in the space of four deliveries to rock West Indian top order in the 6th over. Smith and Darren Bravo both played him for off-spin but the ball went straight on both occasions trapping them plumb in front. At 16 for 3, Chanderpaul and Sarwan started the rebuilding effort. They played extra-cautiously in order to keep wickets intact but this allowed Pakistan spin trio of Hafeez, Afridi and Ajmal to weave a web around them.
West Indies limped to 18/3 after 10 overs and reached 50 in 21 overs. Although Sarwan was reprieved by Gul off Afridi when he was on 13, he could not carry on to make a big score. After troubling him repeatedly, Afridi had his man caught at point for 24 off 68 balls. At the half-way stage West Indies were teetering at 60 for 4 as their big hitter Kieron Pollard arrived.
Pollard was the man who could have hit West Indies out of trouble but Afridi nipped the ‘evil’ in the bud by removing him for just one. Kamran Akmal took a good catch as pollard was sucked into a cut shot by Afridi as so often occurs when Afridi is on song. Next ball Afridi was on a hat-trick when Devon Thomas came right between Afridi’s faster one and the middle stump.
Sammy survived the hat-trick ball and then survived again in the next over against Ajmal when Younis spilled a tough chance at slips. But he was made to look a novice by Ajmal when he was wrapped on the pads in front of the stumps as he miserably misread a doosra. Ajmal produced a beauty three balls later when another doosra went between bat and pad and crashed into the stumps leaving Devendra Bishoo high and dry.
From 71 for 8, West Indies were slightly left off the hook by Afridi as he brought Wahab and Abdul Razzaq into the attack. Chanderpaul and Kemar Roach put 40 runs for the 9th wicket to ensure West Indies reach 100 and beyond. Abdul Razzaq removed Roach when he tried to break shackles after defending brightly for 40-odd deliveries for his 16.
Afridi came back to shatter Rampaul’s leg stump from round his legs and end the innings for West Indies for disappointing 112 in 43.3 overs, their 3rd lowest WC total. Embarrassingly for them they could not even take the batting powerplay as only three batsmen reached the double figures. For Pakistan, Afridi once again was the main destroyer with 4 for 30 while Hafeez and Ajmal took 2 wickets each. Hafeez only gave away 16 runs in his 10 overs.
West Indies needed to replicate some of their glorious fast bowling moments of the past if they were to deny Pakistan a likely win. On a wicket that had no bounce or lateral movement, their fast bowlers looked impotent against a confident Pakistan opening pair. Both Hafeez and Kamran had no trouble what so ever as they approached the target aggressively. Kamran hit some courageous shots but it was Hafeez whose shots all around the ground were a treat to watch for a jam-packed Mirpur crowd.
The crowd was backing Pakistan and for the whole duration of the match it never looked like Pakistan was playing away from home. Both batsmen gave a chance each albeit tough ones but never looked to be in trouble as West Indian fielders were reduced to spectators. The rout was completed when Kamran thumped the ball through point for a four on the penultimate ball of 21st over. Hafeez 62* (64 balls, 10 fours) and Kamran 47* (61 balls, 7 fours) remained not out as Pakistan won by 10 wickets.
Hafeez was named man of the match for his brilliant all-round performance as he opened both the bowling and batting for Pakistan in this match. West Indies were too shallow in their approach in this World Cup as they heavily depended on a few stars in their team especially against the superior teams. Pakistan, on the other hand, are on a roll here as they have their eyes set on the World cup trophy this time. This result means Pakistan are in the semi-final after a long time in a World Cup. It has also opened up mouth-watering possibility of an India-Pakistan clash at Mohali if India beats Australia tomorrow in the 2nd quarter-final.
Match Result: Pakistan 113/0 in 20.5 overs ( Hafeez 61, Kamran 47) beat West Indies 112/10 in 43.3 overs (Chanderpaul 44*, Sarwan 24; Afridi 4/30, Hafeez 2/16) by 10 wickets to qualify for the semi-final
Man of the Match: Mohammad Hafeez
Published in SportPulse.net
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wao great Analysis .. keep up the good work
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