Nawaz and Talat partnership give Pakistan 5-wicket win vs the West Indies in the first ODI at Tarouba yesterday.
Nawaz and Talat stand takes Pakistan over the line in first ODI.
A tense Pakistan overcame a stutter to chase down 281 in the penultimate over and record a five-wicket victory, taking a 1-0 lead in the ODI series, thanks to an undefeated 104-run partnership between debutant Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Talat, playing his second game.
In the first innings, the West Indies amassed 280 runs thanks to three half-centuries, but Pakistan’s spinners held them to a below-average total, with Naseem Shah (3-55) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (4 for 51) sweeping up the hosts in the closing stages.
Pakistan’s chase, which again had trouble pacing the innings, was far from convincing. West Indies found themselves digging into the bottom order when both Babar Azam (47), and Mohammad Rizwan (53), perished following promising, although calm, starts. Rizwan fell with 101 remaining. Together with the more reliable Talat, who scored an undefeated 41 in 37 balls, Nawaz overcame early difficulties and momentarily rode his luck with a couple of missed opportunities to shift the tide of the match with 63 not out.
Saim Ayub’s early success was crucial to Pakistan’s ODI triumph in the previous year, so it felt important. Jayden Seales’ rubber-ball bounce took his edge and sailed into the keeper’s gloves on command, eliminating that threat early on for the West Indies. Abdullah Shafique looked classically beautiful with an even-paced knock, but he was undone by a slightly lower bounce that delighted Shamar Joseph enough to push his captain’s hand into a successful review. Babar took his time to settle.
At first, that third-wicket stand seemed to show the worst of Babar and Rizwan. Early on, when the asking rate was slowly rising above six, they would play sixteen consecutive dot balls. The asking rate eventually eased back down into the fives as they started to catch up, as they so frequently do, setting regular boundaries and running a few twos.
West Indies only provided one over of spin until the twentieth over, putting more faith in their pace bowlers than Pakistan did. That wasn’t a criticism on Gudakesh Motie’s abilities, though, as he started to bother the two and eventually sent Babar packing after he tried to slog and was tricked by the turn.
With every wicket that went by, Rizwan’s value increased, and he had comfortably reached a half-century when Joseph managed to rap him in front of the pads once more, earning the on-field decision that gave the West Indies the victory.
At that time, Nawaz and Talat, who had played one ODI in 2019 and had accumulated 50-over international experience, didn’t look like the most likely heroes. Hasan appeared weak against spin and only managed three runs from his opening twelve deliveries. He was the one Pakistan needed out there right up until the end, but Shai Hope dropped him early because a nick from an attempted slog couldn’t fit into his gloves. The asking rate was also going up.
By the time the dew was making it difficult to hold the ball in the 39th over, the tide had started to turn. After Talat hit Chase for two boundaries, Joseph made a rare mistake with an over that resulted in five wides and 17 runs, bringing the asking rate to little over seven. Every player found the boundary whenever the equation grew tough, giving Pakistan the respite they needed to pace the innings on their terms.
Motie put down an unforgivably simple chance at short third with four overs remaining and Nawaz on 49. Seales went to his knees in shock, and the game was over. Five balls later, Nawaz had completed the victory when Talat hammered 15 off the next over.