Published: Oct 04, 2016, 04:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 05, 2016, 08:04 AM (IST)
Pakistan and West Indies meet for the third and final One-Day International (ODI) with the series already in hosts’ kitty. Things have gone from bad to worse for the West Indies team ever since they came to UAE. After being completely foxed in the Twenty20 (T20I) series, West Indies were expected to battle it out in the ODIs but the script remained the same. Losing the first ODI by 111 runs (D/L method), West Indies were chasing a mammoth score of 338 in second match but lost by 59 runs. Nonetheless, they will like to win their first match of the tour and avoid another whitewash in the hands of a resurgent Pakistan. Full Cricket Scorecard, Pakistan vs West Indies, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
West Indies will have to access their downfall quickly if they want to save themselves from further humiliation. Big grounds, ball not coming onto the bat with enough pace, their inability to play spin well along with them conceding too many boundaries have been major reasons for their drubbing. Barring these facts, West Indies have not maintained pressure on Pakistan with average fielding placements and ordinary bowling. Coming onto West Indies batsmen, they have thrown their starts and no one has stood for long in the middle.
On the other hand, Pakistan have come to their best in limited-overs finally. Though it is quite early to say as they are playing against a No. 8 team in ODIs, still one cannot take away anything from their exemplary performances. If there is no area where they have to work on then it has to be their catching. In the last match, they dropped as many as six catches but were good with their ground fielding. Their batting department has clicked with Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed handling the bulk of scoring.
Apart from Pakistan’s ODI skipper, Azhar Ali, the top and middle-order are going all guns blazing. If Sharjeel provides a flying start, Azam plays with calculative risks and rotates the strike well. Senior pro, Malik, is their best batsman who knows when to tighten the screws and accelerate. Malik missed a century in the second ODI being dismissed for 90 off 83 balls but it was his innings which eased things for Azam who went ahead and scored a consecutive hundred. He, thus, became the tenth Pakistani to notch up consecutive tons in ODIs.
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For the last ten to fifteen overs, Pakistan have their swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman, Sarfraz, who scored his quickest half-century in the last encounter. Sarfraz is a better player playing in conditions where bat comes onto the bat and where the turf generates pace. Nonetheless, after making 35 in the first ODI, Sarfraz added 60 runs down the order to take his side to 337 for 5 in 50 overs. Imad Wasim and Mohammad Aamer are another trusted players with the willow and will like to show their mettle if given another chance in final ODI.
Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Ali are capable batters as well. West Indies, by now, know that they have a steep task to stage a comeback. The repair work has to start from the dressing room itself as Jason Holder, their skipper, has to make his team believe in themselves and treat the last ODI as very significant. Holder needs to up his leadership skills as well. He does not try anything new on the field and has to try something out of the box. West Indies lack common sense and they should play as freely as possible in the final ODI to earn a consolatory win.
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It will be interesting to see if Pakistan comes with a different team combination for the final ODI to test the bench strength. Pakistan are still at the No. 9 spot in ODI rankings and for them to have a good team for long, they need to be aware of their bench strength capabilities as well. Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Sohail Khan have not got opportunities so far and may be given a nod. But if this happens, who will be missed out is a big question.
The home side will still be mighty pleased with the efforts of their youngsters and the team management will keep a close look on them for future endeavours. Azam, Nawaz, Hasan and Wasim have been their young stars and they will like to give them full freedom and whitewash the series. In this way, Pakistan will be able to make a big statement in international arena.
On paper, there is not much difference among both teams but with West Indies repeating their mistakes, they seem reluctant to learn. Darren Bravo finally came to his grooves in the last ODI along with Marlon Samuels but others need to step up as well. Will the last match have something new to witness for the viewers? Anything can happen as cricket is a funny game and West Indies may show some fight, like they did in their mammoth chase the other night, and win a dead rubber before turning up in a three-Test series.
Squads:
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Akmal, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Asad Shafiq
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Marlon Samuels.
Time: 16:30 IST| 11:00 GMT
(Aditya Sahay is a journalist with CricketCountry who is completely into sports and loves writing about cricket in general. He can be followed on Twitter at adisahay7)
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