Pakistan and West Indies have been both champion sides in the past and share an uncanny similarity of being volatile at times. And both have lost their first match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. While Pakistan yet again lost to their old nemesis India, West Indies were shocked by Ireland.
The sides have so far squared off nine times in World Cup matches, with West Indies triumphing six times and Pakistan getting better of them on three occasions. There have been some great moments between the two sides in the past and while Pakistan take on West Indies in a match at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Suvajit Mustafi lists out the past encounters between these two sides in World Cup matches.
1. World Cup 1975 – Birmingham | Group stage
This match marked the debut of two cricketing legends – Javed Miandad and Gordon Greenidge. Electing to bat, Pakistan put up a fighting 266 on the board with captain Majid Khan top-scoring with 60. A breezy 58 by Wasim Raja boosted the run-rate.
Sarfaraz Nawaz, at this lethal best, got Pakistan on a brink of win and at 203 for nine; even the eternal optimistic Caribbean fans may also have lost all hopes. In an incredible turnaround, wicket-keeper Deryck Murray added 64 with Andy Roberts for the last wicket to see West Indies home in the last over. The West Indies from here on believed everything was possible and later went on to win the World Cup.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 266 for 7 in 60 overs (Majid Khan 60, Mushtaq Mohammad 55, Wasim Raja 58) lost to West Indies 267 for 9 in 59.4 overs (Clive Lloyd 53, Deryck Murray 61*; Sarfraz Nawaz 4-44) by one wicket
2. World Cup 1979 – The Oval | Semi-final
The second time these two sides met in a World Cup game was in the semi-final of 1979 and the match was much closer than what the scorecard suggests.
Chasing a mammoth 294 to win, Pakistan were on course at 176 for one, but Viv Richards and Colin Croft ran through the batting line-up, as Asif Iqbal’s men were bowled out for 250 in the 57th over. West Indies went on to win the final for the consecutive time.
Brief scores:
West Indies 293 for 6 in 60 overs (Gordon Greenidge 73, Desmond Haynes 65, Viv Richards 42; Asif Iqbal 4-56) bt Pakistan 250 in 56.2 overs (Majid Khan 81, Zaheer Abbas 93; Colin Croft 3-29, Viv Richards 3-52) by 43 runs
3. World Cup 1983 – The Oval | Semi-final
Four years later, at the same venue the sides again faced each other in a semi-final. After two close contests in the past, this time West Indies routed Pakistan.
West Indies put Pakistan in to the bat and bowled them out for 184 and later came out and chased it down pretty easily and registered an eight wicket win to cruise to the final for the third consecutive time. In the final, at the same city, India managed a run less than Pakistan but went on to break the West Indian streak of winning World Cups.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 184 for 8 in 60 overs (Mohsin Khan 60; Malcolm Marshall 3-28) lost to West Indies 188 for 2 in 48.4 overs (Viv Richards 80*, Larry Gomes 50*) by eight wickets
4. World Cup 1987 – Lahore | Group stage
This match will be best remembered for Courtney Walsh’s sportsmanship. Pakistan needed 14 from last six balls and two from one ball. Walsh, off the very last ball, could have run out Saleem Jaffar for backing up too soon, but good sportsmanship prevailed. Jaffar was in fact well out of his crease but Walsh gently warned him.
Abdul Qadir hit the required runs from the last ball. Walsh received a hand-woven carpet from a local fan and was hailed for his true sportsmanship.
Earlier West Indies had scored 216 and Pakistan managed to seal it with a wicket to spare. This was a nice way for Pakistan to get back at West Indies for the win they registered in 1975.
Brief scores:
West Indies 216 in 49.3 overs (Phil Simmons 50, Viv Richards 51; Imran Khan 4-37, Saleem Jaffar 3-30) lost to Pakistan 217 for 9 in 50 overs (Rameez Raja 42, Saleen Yousuf 56; Courtney Walsh 4-40) by one wicket
5. World Cup 1987 – Karachi | Group stage
Pakistan didn’t field well at all. They put down catches and allowed West Indies to get to 258. Pakistan looked good for the chase and from 128 for one, they kept on losing wickets at regular junctures and none of their last seven batsmen could reach double figures.
They could just manage 230, having lost the match by 28 runs.
Brief scores:
West Indies 258 for 7 in 50 overs (Richie Richardson 110, Viv Richards 67; Imran Khan 3-57, Wasim Akram 3-55) bt Pakistan 230 for 9 in 50 overs (Mudassar Nazar 40, Rameez Raja 70; Patrick Patterson 3-34, Winston Benjamin 3-69) by 28 runs
6. World Cup 1992 – Melbourne | League match
It was really a no contest. The whole match saw close to 97 overs being played and only two wickets fell that day.
West Indies put Pakistan in and the latter managed to score 220 for two in their 50 overs. Rameez Raja got a crawling hundred and thanks to a late blitz by Javed Miandad, that their run rate received some boost.
West Indies chased down the total in the 47th over without losing a wicket. Brian Lara had played splendidly but missed out on a hundred after a yorker from Wasim Akram landed on his foot. He was forced to retire hurt. Pakistan lost this match by 10 wickets but later played some inspiring cricket to win the World Cup final at the same venue.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 220 for 2 in 50 overs (Rameez Raja 102*, Javed Miandad 57*) lost to West Indies 221 for no loss in 46.5 overs (Desmond Haynes 93*, Brian Lara 88*) by 10 wickets
7. World Cup 1999 – Bristol | Group stage
Pakistan were struggling at 135 for six, but the lower order led by captain Wasim Akram stepped in. Akram launched a counterattack and scored 43 from just 29 balls. He was well supported by all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, who too got a valuable 37.
Pakistan’s total of 229 proved to be quite a lot for Brian Lara’s West Indies. The all-rounders –Azhar Mahmood and Abdur Razzaq combined well to run through the West Indian batting order. Shivnarine Chanderpaul fought a lone battle in the end with none of the batsmen supporting him enough. West Indies were eventually bowled out for 202.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 229 for 8 in 50 overs (Wasim Akram 43; Courtney Walsh 3-28, Merv Dillon 3-29) bt West Indies 202 in 48.5 overs (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 77; Azhar Mahmood 3-48, Abdul Razzaq 3-32) by 27 runs
8. World Cup 2007 – Kingston | Group stage
Pakistan put West Indies to bat after winning the toss and the latter was off to a slow start in the beginning. The West Indian middle-order consolidated well and a late flourish from Dwayne Smith saw the score gain some respectability at 241.
Apart from Shoaib Malik, none of the Pakistani batsmen got going and were bowled out for just 187. Pakistan’s campaign suffered further setback when they crashed out of the competition after another defeat in the hands of Ireland. If that wasn’t bad, things turned terrible when the following day their coach Bob Woolmer was found murdered in the hotel.
Brief scores:
West Indies 241 for 9 in 50 overs (Ramnaresh Sarwan 49, Marlon Samuels 63; Iftikhar Anjum 3-44) bt Pakistan 187 in 47.2 overs (Shoaib Malik 62; Dwayne Smith 3-36, Dwayne Bravo 3-42) by 54 runs
9. World Cup 2011 – Dhaka | Quarter-final
It was West Indies who won the toss and elected to bat in the all-important quarter-final at Dhaka. Darren Sammy’s men put up a pathetic performance as they were bowled out for only 112. While Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi picked up four wickets, the best bowler was Mohammad Hafeez, who bowled a spell of 10-3-16-2.
Chasing 113 wasn’t going to be difficult but Pakistan did it in style. They won the match by 10 wickets with Hafeez smashing an unbeaten 67 to complete a perfect man-of-the-match performance.
Brief scores:
West Indies 112 in 43.3 overs (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 44*; Shahid Afridi 4-30, Mohammad Hafeez 2-16, Saeed Ajmal 2-18) lost to Pakistan 113 for no loss in 20.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 47*, Mohammad Hafeez 67*) by 10 wickets
Head-to-head (Overall)
Played: 126 Pak: 55 WI: 68 Tied: 3
Most Runs: Desmond Haynes (WI) Runs: 2390 (65 ODIs) Average: 41.92
Most Wickets: Wasim Akram (Pak) Wickets: 89 (64 ODIs) Average: 25.6
Head-to-head (In World Cups)
Played: 9 Pak: 3 WI: 6
Most Runs: Viv Richards (WI) Runs: 253 (5 ODIs) Average: 63.3
Most Wickets: Courtney Walsh (WI) Wickets: 9 (3 ODIs) Average: 11.3
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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