Inclement weather, the Duckworth/Lewis method and a lightning assault by Pakistan’s middle-order batsmen stole the thunder from the West Indies as the visitors snatched the rain-affected fourth one-day international (ODI) by six wickets on Sunday.
In a match already reduced to 49 overs per side and after Marlon Samuels blazed an unbeaten 106 in the home team’s total of 261 for seven, Pakistan were set a revised target of 189 off 31 overs as a second shower of the day interrupted play when they were 68 for two off 17 overs. Needing a further 121 off 14 overs, half-centuries from Mohammad Hafeez and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq sped the visitors to the target with one over to spare.
“It was like a T20 game when we came back out,” a delighted Misbah said after his key role in the victory.
Photo: AFP
“Mohammad Hafeez and I realized that we just had to play normal cricketing shots and look for the odd boundary. It was a case of not panicking and just staying focused on the target,” he said.
Following a tie in the third match two days earlier, Pakistan now have an unbeatable 2-1 lead going into the fifth and final match at the same Beausejour Stadium venue tomorrow.
West Indies seemed a dejected bunch when they took the field after being told by the umpires of the revised target and Pakistan capitalized, with Hafeez and Misbah smashing 54 runs off five overs before West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo tried to get his team back into the match.
Photo: AFP
Hafeez fell to Kemar Roach for 59, an innings decorated by five fours and two hooked sixes off fast-medium bowler Jason Holder, while Bravo himself accounted for Shahid Afridi, who was promoted up the order to accelerate Pakistan’s scoring.
However, new batsman Umar Akmal (29 not out) maintained the required scoring tempo and with Misbah showing his remarkable versatility in speeding along to 53 off 43 balls at the other end to keep his team well on course, it was left to Akmal to finish off the match with three consecutive boundaries off the disheartened West Indies captain.
“When we came back on the field after the recalculation, two of our main bowlers [Roach and Sunil Narine] had already bowled five overs, so we were virtually without their services at this crucial stage,” said Bravo, who conceded 49 runs off six overs.
Samuels returned to something like his sumptuous best, stroking four sixes and nine fours off 104 balls in a feast of batsmanship in the midday sunshine. He put on 95 for the fifth wicket with Lendl Simmons, who supported Samuels’ classy assault with a belligerent 46 off 44 balls. West Indies made two significant decisions before a ball was bowled in replacing hard-hitting Kieron Pollard with Devon Smith and demoting Chris Gayle to No. 5 in the batting order, in light of his continuing struggle for runs against the new ball.
He was back in the middle at 63 for two after Smith fell cheaply to Mohammad Irfan and Johnson Charles was trapped leg-before by Wahab Riaz, benefiting from a huge slice of luck almost instantly when put down by Hafeez off Wahab before he had scored.
Although far from his destructive best, Gayle contributed 30 to a 57-run third-wicket stand with Samuels, before failing to clear long-on off the bowling of Shahid Afridi.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two