Pakistan wrapped up their tour of the West Indies with an 11-run win in the second Twenty20 international in St Vincent on Sunday to complete a one-day double over the world Twenty20 champions.
The visitors ran through the home team’s top order at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown to lay the foundation for success as they defended a modest target of 135-7 by restricting the West Indies to 124-9 from their 20 overs.
It ensured a successful conclusion to Pakistan’s tour on the back of a 3-1 win in the five-match ODI series played in Guyana and St Lucia.
Opener Ahmed Shehzad scored a breezy 44 in 53 balls, but was not supported by his partners. His departure in the 13th over brought Umar Akmal to the crease and he took over the scoring responsibility on a slow track.
While spinner Sunil Narine threatened to sweep through the rest of the Pakistan batting, taking three wickets in a second spell at the end of the innings, Akmal helped push the tally to 135 with an unbeaten 46 off 56 balls.
In reply, the West Indies lost their first three wickets in three overs, including another failure for Chris Gayle, who lobbed a ball straight to cover and was out for 1.
Dwayne Bravo, Narine and Kieron Pollard threatened a dramatic rescue, even though the asking run rate went to more than 12 an over.
During a dramatic 17th over, Pollard smashed 20 runs off the first four balls, with two sixes landing on the roof of the stand.
Zulfiqar Babar then had him caught in the deep and took a second wicket with the next ball, dismissing Bravo in similar fashion. Tino Best, the last man in, threatened some drama too with two huge sixes, but fell short in the end.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
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