Rizwan, Haider and Bowlers star in clinical victory against Westindies
Rizwan provides the platform
It was in the opening when Akeal Hosein took a sharp path from Babar Azam and found the edge in dismissing the Pakistani skipper for a duck. Fakhar Zaman fought for a move during the power play and eventually fell on a run-a-ball 10, which was fooled by Romario Shepherd's change of pace. But West Indies couldn't stop a busy Mohammad Rizwan on the other end. The wicketkeeper batter regularly scored limits and also ran hard between wickets, even pushing it pretty close a couple of times as he helped Pakistan finish the power play on 44. Haider Ali was slow at the start but Rizwan made sure Pakistan's goal rate didn't dip. Hosein completed a nice phase and finished 1-19 at the end of the 11th over, with Haider Ali only making 12 of 14 at this point. But Rizwan's 34-Ball-Fifty, also his 12th over 50 that year, provided a strong platform for Pakistan.
Haider and Nawaz ensure the successful conclusion
Haider took off in the 12th over, in which 20 came from Odean Smith, with No. 4 scoring 14 of those runs, including a couple of mixed fours to help Pakistan over 100 the offside gave Haider a six and a four from debutant Dominic Drakes while getting another four over an inside edge from Smith and clearing for a half century with 28 balls. Although Rizwan, Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed fell in consecutive overs, Haider found the runs on the other end to help Pakistan make good progress. Odean Smith, meanwhile, finished 1-56 from his four overs. Shepherd had 2:23 of his first three overs, but was torn apart in his final over by Mohammad Nawaz, who hit three fours and one six over long-off in the 19th over for 21 runs. Drakes dismissed Haider in the final, but Nawaz dodged the fence for a second time in his innings and went undefeated at 30 out of 10 to help Pakistan finish on a large sum.
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Were the West Indies Really Hunting?
With 50 in the power play, six more than Pakistan, the West Indies were slightly ahead. But they had also lost an extra wicket compared to Pakistan by this point, including skipper Nicholas Pooran's all-important scalp. After Brandon King fell to Nawaz early on, Pooran looked in an ominous touch and scored a couple of sixes. But he was defeated by an excellent York from Wasim who also defeated Devon Thomas with a full delivery. By the time their innings came to halfway, they had lost half of their team. Shai Hope, who was responsible for keeping the West Indies in pursuit, was sacked for a 26-ball 31 before hitting the 10. The game's other debutant, Shamarh Brooks, was sacked for a 15- in the same over. Ball 5 thrown.
West Indies are becoming scarce for miles
The chase fell out of the hands of the West Indies and while Rovman Powell (23 of 15) tried to resuscitate the innings, Pakistan was always ahead on regular wickets. Dominic Drakes fell against Hari's Upright while Shadab sacked his third when Powell hit one wrong and saw Nawaz hold a good catch in the deep. Wasim was beaten by Shepherd for two fours and a six, while Smith launched the attack on Shaheen Afridi. But Wasim finished it on the 19th round after bowling both Shepherd and Oshane Thomas to finish with his best career numbers in T20Is.
Brief Results: Pakistan 200/6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 78, Haider Ali 68; Romario Shepherd 2-43) beat West Indies 137 in 19 overs (Shai Hope 31; Mohammad Wasim 4-40, Shadab Khan 3-17) by 63 runs .