West Indies level ODI series with crushing win vs Pakistan as visitors were hurt by dot balls while batting.
Seales’ strikes, Rutherford’s blitz, Chase’s calm help West Indies pull level.
In order to tie the ODI series 1-1, West Indies defeated Pakistan’s spinners and the weather by a margin of five wickets. Sherfane Rutherford’s blitz and Roston Chase’s steady performance at the end of a pulsating chase took them home with 10 balls remaining.
When Jayden Seales’ outstanding fast-bowling effort held Pakistan to 171 for 7 in 37 overs, it made their task much more difficult than it may have been. Due to several weather delays in the first innings, the target was marginally higher than what was scored (181 in 35 overs).
Pakistan played stodgy cricket that was out of step with the decade they were playing in after being put in to bat first. Only five singles were taken in the opening ten overs, with Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub occasionally finding powerplay boundaries but alternating them with bursts of dot deliveries. It was the ninth consecutive ball the left-hand batter had faced without scoring a run when Seales’ extra pace and Shai Hope’s deft field placement got an outside edge from Ayub in the ninth over.
A Seales special blasted through the gate, messed up Babar Azam’s stumps, and put the West Indies firmly on top three balls later.
Mohammad Rizwan was brought out, but he only scored four goals off his first twenty-three deliveries, suggesting that he had left the positives in the dressing room. A 90-minute delay in play due to a shower hindered Pakistan’s ability to settle into a rhythm. After play restarted, Jediah Blades claimed his first ODI wicket by getting Shafique to get an edge, ending his tumultuous innings.
As the innings was coming to an end, another weather delay cut the match short for Pakistan, giving Hasan Nawaz the opportunity to play his best in what turned out to be seven death overs. However, just as he was starting to get underway, the obstinate cloud cruelly unleashed its contents on the Brian Lara Stadium once more. 32 runs were scored in 3.1 overs during that brief stretch of play, but Pakistan’s final three overs were wiped out, preventing them from having a strong finish.
West Indies was given a reasonable aim, but that expectation was quickly called into question by Hasan Ali’s opening shot. He dismissed the openers with wickets in each of his opening two overs, leaving the hosts mired in the same muck that had plagued Pakistan. After six overs, Rizwan, seeing an opportunity to strangle, called on the spinners, and Abrar Ahmed and Muhammad Nawaz produced the desired outcome.
For a little while, the scoring pace slowed to a trickle, especially for Keacy Carty. His captain was under a lot of strain because he only managed three singles in his first 26 balls. An interesting narrative element involved Pakistan’s fifth bowling option; Salman’s over revealed another eleven, while Ayub’s over leaked ten.
Rizwan made the crucial choice to switch to Shaheen Afridi when Rutherford had just got at the crease and the asking rate was over six. The hitter chose his moment. He pounded 17 that over with two fours and a six, and Rizwan turned to the part-timer Salman right away, lopping another 20 off the target.
Although it gave West Indies the advantage to more politely dismiss Abrar and Mohammad Nawaz, the two weren’t satisfied with containment. In what seemed to be a game-changing moment, Nawaz got Rutherford into a smear that found square leg after finding extra turn to have Hope stumped earlier.
The next Ayub over, Chase blasted a few of sixes to force the asking rate below six again, where it would remain for the remainder of the match.
In addition to getting the odd boundary that put the game farther out of the visitors’ grasp, the West Indies started to milk the returning fast bowlers, who never posed the same threat.