Highlight
Pakistan defeated the West Indies by seven runs in the second T20I.
Babar Azam played a magnificent half-century as Pakistan captain.
The first match was called out owing to weather, which provided Pakistan with a 1-0 lead in the series.
Pakistan defeated the West Indies in the second T20I of the four-match series by holding a furious Nicholas Pooran to a seven-run margin.
Even though the West Indies assault was romping all over the field, Pakistan’s dynamic bowling attack was able to keep things under control for much of the match, finishing off the job with a seven-run victory in the second T20I at the National Stadium in Guyana on Saturday. Two days after being hit by a thunderstorm that forced them to withdraw from the first game in Barbados, Babar Azam’s team will enter the third game of the series at Providence on Sunday with a 1-0 lead. Although much of the West Indies innings was lethargic, for the final three overs of their innings, their score of 157 for eight was still in the running, and Pooran’s explosive unbeaten 62 off 33 balls with six sixes and four fours had the ability to bring them all the way back from the edge of elimination.
Afridi claimed the wicket of Pollard and denied Pooran three successive deliveries to swing freely and passionately to prevent the visitors from taking a victory.
The West Indies went down again, this time in their pursuit for runs, despite the superb bowling effort of Mohammad Hafeez could not be disputed.
Veteran off-spinning all-rounder Josh Blackwood bowled Andre Fletcher for just six runs in his four overs, having started the match by bowling the opening over of the innings.
Since he remarked, his experience in the Caribbean Premier League earlier in the tournament assisted him as he knew it would be difficult for the batters.
“They’re quite powerful guys, so it’s always a problem to hold a firm line whenever they are in the game,” he said.
Pollard credited his bowlers for not allowing his opponents to score when he decided to bat first.
The method in which the bowlers were able to combat the high total during the latter part of their innings was positive, according to the captain.
In an attempt to break the record, he stated, “However, in the middle overs, Hetty (Shimron Hetmyer) and Evin (Lewis) kept things running smoothly, without making us erupt.”
This defeat was to be expected after the team’s opener batter, Evin Lewis, retired hurt on 35 while batting in the middle of the innings.
Babar Azam thought his team should have scored more runs.
Babar agreed, saying “We were 15 runs short, but we must applaud the bowlers for keeping the West Indies batters in check.”
“When you are down two wickets and losing back-to-back wickets, you have to improve on that because you hope to do better in the following two games,” he said.
Holder and Bravo helped to slow down the Pakistan batting average.
Bravo, the senior all-rounder and leading wicket-taker in all T20 cricket collected two for 24 while Holder, the former captain, recorded superb figures of four for 26.
A high score of the innings was Babar’s elegant 51 runs with two sixes and four fours.
Rizwan and Sharjeel set the stage for a tough aim, as they had set the tone for 67 runs for the third wicket.
The flow of the visitors’ innings was cut short when Rizwan was dismissed by the second baserunner on the runout.
In the effort to finish the final overs and pick up a larger scoring rate, Pakistan’s run rate suffered and dropped four buildups in eight overs as the accuracy, attention to detail, and variation by Holder and Bravo paid off.
