Pakistan took an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five match one-day international series against West Indies after winning by three wickets at the Kensington Oval on Thursday.
A rain delay reduced the match to 45 overs per team and West Indies, batting first, once again failed to build on a decent start, making just 171 all out from 43.4 overs.
Pakistan were in trouble early in their reply when they slumped to 12-3 as Ravi Rampaul produced a superb opening spell, but a calming 62 not out from Misbah-ul-Haq saw the tourists home with almost five overs to spare.
PHOTO: AFP
It was a familiar story with the bat for West Indies with Lendl Simmons picking up his second half-century of the series but getting out to a return catch by Saeed Ajmal right after reaching the landmark.
Darren Bravo also showed promise with a patient 47 from 77 balls but yet again the Carribbean team’s middle order folded.
Brother Dwayne Bravo got out to a poor shot, failing to deal with a rising ball, and skipper Darren Sammy’s disappointing form continued as he was caught by Shehzad attempting a slog off Riaz.
Riaz and Ajmal finished with three wickets apiece after another good Pakistani performance with the ball.
West Indies needed early wickets to have any realistic chance and they got exactly that from Rampaul who picked up Mohammad Hafeez (5) and Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq for ducks with a spell of lively pace and bounce.
However, Umar Akmal (30) steadied the ship before a fifth wicket partnership of 78 from Hammas Azam (36) and Misbah pushed Pakistan towards their target. There was time though for a twist in the tale as promising leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo picked up three wickets to apply some late pressure to leave Pakistan on 148 for seven.
Misbah, widely criticized for his slow batting display in the World Cup defeat to India, showed his value as a calm and intelligent middle order presence as, together with Riaz, he saw them safely home.
Riaz finished off the proceedings with two big sixes but it was his senior partner who rightly won the plaudits.
“There was a bit more bounce and pace in there than we were used to. I knew I had to bat through to the end,” said Misbah, while skipper Shahid Afridi hinted that there could be some squad rotation for the final two games of the series.
Sammy acknowledged that once more West Indies simply didn’t set a strong enough target.
“As a batting unit, myself included we have to take responsibility in the way that Rampaul and Bishoo did for us with the ball,” he said.
“We just didn’t get enough runs. We’ve had good starts but we just haven’t capitalized on them, we need to be able to rotate the strike in those middle 20 overs,” he said.
STAR ALLEGES MATCH FIXING
Star alleges match fixing
AFP, COLOMBO
Sri Lanka’s former cricket captain Hashan Tillakaratne has claimed that his country had been fixing games since 1992, once again raising the specter of corruption in the sport.
The left-handed batsman, who played 83 Tests and 200 one-dayers for Sri Lanka during his 15-year career, said he was prepared to back up his allegations by naming some of those involved.
“Match fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This has spread like a cancer today,” Tillakaratne was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper yesterday. “According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992.”
“There were threats of this issue being exposed at various times. But it was pushed down by giving money to various people,” he said. “If the people who were responsible for that are listening to this, I state this today with great responsibility, I will shortly reveal the names of those responsible.”
Tillakaratne, who skippered Sri Lanka between April 2003 and March 2004, stopped short of suggesting this year’s World Cup final was rigged, although he expressed reservations about the selection of the Sri Lankan team that was beaten by India.
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