Published: Oct 02, 2016, 06:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 02, 2016, 06:15 PM (IST)
Shoaib Malik reached to a fine half-century (38th overall in 50-overs) whereas Babar Azam scored his 6th fifty in the third One-Day International (ODI) of the five-ODI series against West Indies at Sharjah. Winning the toss, Pakistan elected to bat and were going strong with Azhar Ali and Sharjeel Khan looking good but Pakistan’s ODI skipper, Azhar, got out for 9. Sharjeel also departed early for 24 but since then it has been Malik and Azam’s show as the duo have also added 100 runs for the third wicket, till the time of publishing reports. While Pakistan have won the three-Twenty20 International (T20I) series 3-0, they also won the opening ODI by 111 runs. West Indies have been poor on field with no victories from the four matches played in the tour so far. They are in a must win situation to save the ODI series. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs West Indies, second ODI at Sharjah
Malik started off a little slow but played after getting a few boundaries is looking at his usual best for a big innings. Malik has smashed two big sixes straight down the ground while Azam looked composed and took calculative risks by rotating the strike well. Azam scored his first international hundred in the series opener on Friday and is looking set for another big knock along with senior pro, Malik. ALSO READ: Pakistan surpass India with most ODI wins; Australia at No.1 spot
Pakistan is carrying a good from the last series in England. Coming from a victory in the one-off T20I in England, they maintained the form as they did not let the West Indies win a single match in the series. The current T20I world champions did a below par job as they looked weak in all the departments. While experienced bowlers like Sulieman Benn and Sunil Narine could do nothing exceptional, batting was also a disappointing as the entire line-up failed altogether making it easy for Pakistan to win the fixtures. This is a big game for the tourists as they are on the verge of another series loss playing turning up for the longer format.
