West Indies were completely outplayed in the first T20 of the three-match series against Pakistan on Friday, and they were expected to come with a bang in the second T20 on Saturday. But it was not be as the World T20 champions looked below par in the second match, where Pakistan emerged victorious by 16 runs, with Sarfraz Ahmed (46 runs) and Sohail Tanvir (three wickets) playing an important role in the win. With it, Pakistan have clinched the series against West Indies with a game to spare.
The second match might have witnessed an improved performance from West Indies, but it was still not enough. After batting first, Pakistan scored 160 runs from their allotted 20 overs with good contribution from Khalid Latif (40 runs) Shoaib Malik (37) and skipper Sarfraz (46).
This was a target which could have been chased down by the West Indies batsmen. Once again, West Indies got off to a worst possible start as they were tottering at 19 for three wickets, which further deteriorated with the loss of Dwayne Bravo's wicket. Their score read 45 runs for four wickets, so the task looked uphill.
After the wicket of Bravo, they were always on the back foot, and lost wickets at regular intervals, which was a problem. None of the top order batsmen got their willow to talk. Despite a late flourish from Sunil Narine, who scored 17-ball 30, West Indies fell short by 16 runs.
One needs to applaud the Pakistan bowlers, who did not give much to the West Indies batsmen to score easy runs. Hasan Ali and Sohail Tanvir took three wickets each to help Pakistan win the series.
Though Pakistan might have won the series, they will eye clean sweep as the two teams are set for the final T20 on Tuesday. West Indies, on the other hand, will be keen to finish the T20 series on a high and head into the ODI series starting on Friday as a confident unit.
