Windies pacers blow Pakistan away in no time

The West Indian fast bowlers turned back the clock as they made the Pakistan batsmen hop and jump around in what was a brilliant display of fast bowling before the batsmen wrapped it up in no time. The entire game lasted a mere 35.2 overs as Pakistan were no match for the mighty West Indies.

The Windies pace attack blew away the Pakistan batting line-up for a mere 105 in 21.4 overs. Every bowler that came in to the attack, stuck to one plan — that was to bowl short. And that paid off beautifully as the Pakistan batsmen just had no answers on how to counter the pace and bounce. The Trent Bridge pitch looked flat as usual but West Indies won the toss and decided to field first under overcast skies. However, there was barely any lateral movement and it made the Windies bowlers go short pretty quickly.

Imam-ul-Haq was strangled down leg in the third over as Sheldon Cottrell opened the wickets account for the Windies. Fakhar Zaman promised with a few delightful strokes but his innings was short lived courtesy a fiery Andre Russell. The West Indian all-rounder bowled a terrific spell in the powerplay as he started the procession. He bowled a nasty bouncer to Zaman who was struck on the helmet before it deflected back on to his stumps. The next in line was Haris Sohail who succumbed to the extra pace and bounce of Russell, nicking to the wicket-keeper, Shai Hope.

Despite looking in fabulous rhythm, Russell was removed after his three-over spell in which he inflicted the damage as he had figures of 3-2-4-2. But that brought in Oshane Thomas into the attack and he just ran in and bowled fast. And Pakistan middle and lower order fell like nine pins. Thomas picked up a four-fer while skipper Jason Holder complement him with three wickets as Pakistan bundled out for just 105. It was Pakistan’s second lowest score in a World Cup game.

Chasing a meagre total, Chris Gayle came out all guns blazing as he stroked his way to his 52nd ODI half-century, setting up the win for the West Indies during the chase. Pakistan will be happy with the way Mohammad Amir bowled as he picked up all three wickets to fall. He was excellent with his line and length and also, his cutters which proved to be effective against the rampaging Gayle. Nicholas Pooran had a good hit as well as he scored 34 off 19 balls to finish the job for the Windies. It took just 13.4 overs for the ‘Men in Maroon’ to wipe out the chase.

Pakistan were humbled and on what was expected to be a belter at Trent Bridge, they never got going. This will dent their confidence big time. West Indies, on the other hand, will be flying high after a performance like this. They will look to carry this momentum forward.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 105 (Thomas 4/27, Holder 3/42, Russell 2/4) lost to West
Indies 108/3 (Gayle 50, Pooran 34*, Amir 3/26)