Holder the hero as West Indies keep series alive following his 4 for 19 with the ball and last-ball heroics.
Holder took four wickets across phases, took two catches and finished things off with a last-ball boundary.
This was more of an exhibition to highlight Jason Holder’s genius than a game. When the equation was at its steepest, the all-rounder came in to bat, grabbed four wickets during the Pakistan innings, opened the bowling, and won the second Twenty20 International for the West Indies with a boundary off Shaheen Shah Afridi’s penultimate delivery.
After a thrilling battle that culminated in a ferocious Holder swipe past fine leg when they needed three off one and a shout of pure pleasure that tore through Florida, the hosts even the series with the two-wicket victory.
Prior to match, West Indies had only won two of their previous 19 Twenty20 Internationals. However, they got ahead of Pakistan with early wickets, forcing them to chase after them through the middle overs. A counterattacking 60-run fifth-wicket partnership between Salman Agha and Hasan Nawaz got them to a point, but Holder’s double-strike put them back on track. Pakistan scored just 23 runs in the last five overs as the hosts dominated, giving Shai Hope’s team an extremely manageable 134 to win.
However, batting seemed to be becoming more and more challenging, and Pakistan’s flawless bowling made things much more difficult for the hesitant West Indies. West Indies quickly fell behind the asking rate after Jewel Andrew’s quick early flair, which was typified by captain Hope’s agonising stay at the crease as he hobbled to 21 in 30 deliveries. Holder had to pull off another robbery with spinners tearing through the middle order.
As Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd delivered their respective blows, there was some assistance from the opposing end. West Indies seemed to lose it again just when they had it under control, as Holder spent much of the last two overs stranded at the non-striker’s end. However, he received the last and most important delivery of all. Holder managed to get enough bat on it to slice through two fielders and crush Pakistan’s hopes when Afridi attempted the surprise delivery by going at the pads instead of wide outside off.