Mirpur: West Indies have won the toss and are batting first in this do-or-die battle against Pakistan in the final group league encounter of the ICC World Twenty20 in Mirpur Tuesday.
Pakistan lost two early wickets as Ahmed Shehzad was ousted in the first ball courtesy Santokie. In the next over, Badree packed off Kamran Akmal who was caught out by Bravo. Pakistan made 3 runs in two overs, losing two wickets.
Badree took another big wicket as he sent back Umar Akmal with just one run. Pakistan made 11 for 3 in 5 overs.
Pakistan have a tough task ahead as they lose another wicket in the 6th over. Shoaib Malik was out at 2 while Badree pocketed three wickets. Pakistan were at 35 for 4 in 10 overs.
Earlier, a late blitz from all-rounder DwayneBravo and skipper Darren Sammy helped defending champions West Indies put up a fighting 166 for six against Pakistan in a do-or-die Group 2 league match of the World T20 here on Tuesday.
Bravo smashed 46 off only 26 balls as he took the attack back to the Pakistan camp with his imperious hitting. He struck two fours and four huge sixes. He was well-supported by skipper Darren Sammy whose entertaining cameo of 42 was equally important as it helped West Indies reach a decent total after they were tottering at 81 for five.
Sammy struck five fours and two sixes in only 20 balls as the last three overs produced an unbelievable 59 runs.
The turning point in the West Indies innings was the 18th and 19th over bowled by the seasoned duo of Umar Gul (0/29) and Saeed Ajmal (0/41) that produced 45 runs in all.
Till 17 overs, Pakistan bowlers looked in complete control before the carnage from Bravo and Sammy happened at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
Chris Gayle (5) did not fire today as the first delivery he faced from Paksitan skipper Mohammed Hafeez brought about his downfall. Hafeez bowled one wide off-stump which Gayle tried to play with minimal footwork and Kamran Akmal effected a good stumping.
Gayle’s partner Dwayne Smith struck two boundaries off Hafeez but was uncomfortable against left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir’s awkwardly angled deliveries. He edged one to Akmal behind stumps as the ball moved away after pitching on the off-middle line.
Lendl Simons (31) struck a few meaty blows but was not able to get the momentum going as he and out-of-form Marlon Samuels could add only 39 in 6.2 overs. Simons struck two sixes before he was unfortunately run-out.
Samuels was once again bogged down but he gave Afridi the charge to hit him down the ground for a straight six. But the veteran leg-spinner had his revenge of his very next delivery.
Afridi bowled a faster one and Samuels, who had very little room to play the cut shot, chopped one back on to the stumps.
Reeling at 67 for four in the 11 the over, it soon became 81 for five as Denesh Ramdin (5) tried to slog Babar and was caught at deep mid-wicket by Umar Akmal.
It was then left to Bravo to give the charge and he started by lifting Gul for a big six and followed it up with a pull-shot over deep mid-wicket.
Brief scores: West Indies: 166 for six in 20 overs (Dwayne Bravo 46, Lendl Simmons 31; Mohammad Hafeez 1/15) vs Pakistan.
Both teams are on four points each and this is a virtual quarter-final clash to decide on the second semi-finalist from Group 2 after India emerged group champions with an all-win record.
The match is being billed as a battle between the mystery spinners with West Indies banking heavily on Sunil Narine while Pakistan’s hopes will be pinned on Saeed Ajmal.
“The team that plays spinners well will win the match. We know that it is a match where we can’t make a mistake,” Pakistan captain Mohammed Hafeez said on the eve of their clash against Darren Sammy’s West Indies.
While West Indies’ inspirational win against Australia has given the team much-needed boost, Pakistan also had two convincing victories against Australia and hosts Bangladesh. Both teams are on even keel as far as their strengths are concerned and it will be interesting to see how the rival batsmen tackle the spinners. To complement Narine, West Indies also have leg-spinner Samuel Badree, who is second in the ICC’s list of T20 bowlers after teammate Sunil Narine.
While Narine has bowled with a superb economy rate of 4.66 runs per over in the three matches, Badree has compensated for his 6.66 economy rate with seven scalps to his credit.