West Indies gave their fans something they have been yearning for the longest time: a convincing win over a higher ranked team than themselves.
The win could not have been more emphatic at the Guyana National Stadium than the 10-wicket victory that was initiated by captain Darren Sammy, who has gotten harsh criticism from every conceivable corner as to his relevance in a team that is being rebuilt.
The other major players yesterday were Ravi Rampaul and later when they batted, Man-of-the-match Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards.
Simmons, for once in the five-match Digicel Home series, which ended 3-2 in favour of Pakistan, did not lose his wicket after passing 50. Instead, he went on to surpass his highest ODI score 73 with an attractive unbeaten 77, which also ensured that the match ended at 14:56 hours, long before the usual 17:30 hours. Edwards scored a patient 40 from 71 deliveries as the West Indies ended on 140-0 from 23.3 overs, overhauling Pakistan’s 139 all out from 41.2 overs. Pakistan’s total was built upon Mohammad Hafeez’ 55, Umar Akmal’s 24 and Muhammad Salman’s unbeaten 19. Rampaul led the Windies charge with 4-45 (10) while Bravo captured 3-30 (10).
Simmons stroked seven fours and three sixes from 73 deliveries while Edwards hit three fours as the Pakistani bowlers toiled under a sunny sky and in front of an enthusiastic crowd that had little to frown about. The Arrival Day holiday crowd at the Stadium dwindled somewhat but quite a few remained to savour the victory.
Meanwhile, since his ascendancy to the captaincy, Sammy’s moments of brilliance in the field, with bat or ball, were sporadic. At his team’s his team’s pre-match presser on Wednesday he had stated that he was one innings away from producing the goods for the team that had entered yesterday’s encounter 1-3 down.
His wicket-to-wicket bowling yesterday made one forget that he is classified as an ordinary bowler as his average of 45.76 shows. With the Pakistanis 93-5 in the 28th over, Sammy had the wickets of Ahmad Shazad, bowled for nine, Mishbah-ul-Haq, lbw for one, and Hafeez, the last match centurion, bowled for 55, which was decorated with six boundaries.
The St. Lucian led from the front and his bowlers complemented well. Rampaul had Taufeeq Umar caught behind by Carlton Baugh for three and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, always in the mix since arriving in the team for the World Cup in India, removed Usman Salahuddin, lbw for eight.
The Pakistanis’ slide was symptomatic of their batting performance for a large part of the ODI series but yesterday there was no stemming of the rapid loss of wickets. They struggled to piece together any meaningful partnership and when Rampaul struck again, the score was 108-6.
Akmal (24) played a Rampaul delivery that kept low unto his stumps in the 31st over. Two overs later Rampaul was in the action again when he had skipper Shahid Afridi, whose miserable performance with the bat continued, caught behind for nine to a delivery that lifted and got big on him of the first ball.
Three balls later Sammy took a low catch to his right at first slip to dismiss Wahab Riaz for nought; Rampaul went on to end that over as a double wicket maiden.
Bishoo was brought back to wrap up the tail as Sammy and his men scented blood. There were two slips, a point, cover, midon and square leg all in the circle in the 34th over. However, the breakthrough would come until the third ball of the 39th over when Dwayne Bravo trapped Saeed Ajmal for five, pushing the Pakistanis to 127-9.
Bravo made the final breakthrough at 12:28 hours when Junaid Khan was lbw for one, leaving Salman undefeated on 19 and Pakistan, all out on 139. Rampaul was the pick of the bowlers with 4-45 (10), Sammy took 3-30 (10) while Bravo had 2-16 (5.2) and Bishoo, 1-26 (7).
With the Pakistanis dismissed it gave the West Indies 21 minutes at the crease before the stipulated luncheon interval. Simmons started the Windies chase with a tickle to fine leg off Afridi and followed up by cutting him to the point boundary in his second over.
Simmons pulled Khan for a boundary to long leg before West Indies went to lunch on 34-0 after six overs; Simmons was on 17 and Barbadian right hander Edwards was on seven.
On resumption, Simmons, who had scored half centuries in his last three matches, continued his dominance of the bowling, mixing aggression with grace and guile. In the seventh over after lunch, Simmons charged spinner Hafeez and dispatched him for six over square leg after he had hit Saeed Ajmal for two fours in the previous over.
Simmons brought up his fourth half century of the series when he played Afridi down to long on. Edwards, was more or less the silent partner, nurdling the ball around for singles and the odd boundary. He also survived a run out chance in the 18th over after.
However, it was Simmons who reigned supreme out in the middle. In the 20th over, Simmons lofted Afridi for six over long on, then pulled Wahab Riaz for six over square leg in the next over. Riaz responded with the perfect bouncer that Simmons did well to fend off to third man.
However, the writing was on the wall as the visitors tried all they could to break the West Indian upsurge. Nothing worked. The Caribbean boys were going to satisfy the packed Guyana National stadium.
Edwards displayed the same confidence when he cut Ajmal for four before Simmon ended with a double after an overthrow to point off the bowling of Ahmed Shezhad.
The Windies will now set their sights on Test series which begins on May 12 in Guyana.
Scoreboard
Pakistan (maximum 50 overs)
Mohammad Hafeez b *Sammy 55
Taufeeq Umar c wkpr Baugh b Rampaul 3
Ahmed Shehzad b *Sammy 9
Usman Salahuddin lbw b Bishoo 8
Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b *Sammy 1
Umar Akmal b Rampaul 24
*Shahid Afridi c wkpr Baugh b Rampaul 9
+Mohammad Salman not out 19
Wahab Riaz c *Sammy b Rampaul 0
Saeed Ajmal lbw b D.J. Bravo 5
Junaid Khan lbw b D.J. Bravo 1
Extras (lb1, w4) 5
Total (all out, 41.2 overs) 139
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Taufeeq Umar, 4.3 overs); 2-48 (Ahmed Shehzad, 14.5); 3-67 (Usman Salahuddin, 21.1); 4-72 (Misbah-ul-Haw, 22.4); 5-93 (Mohammad Hafeez, 28.2); 6-108 (Umar Akmal, 30.6); 7-113 (*Shahid Afridi, 32.1); 8-113 (Wahab Riaz, 32.4); 9-127 (Saeed Ajmal, 38.4)
Bowling: Rampaul 10-1-45-4 (w4); Martin 9-2-21-0; *Sammy 10-1-30-3; Bishoo 7-0-26-1; D.J. Bravo 5.2-0-16-2
West Indies (target: 140 off 50 overs)
L. Simmons not out 77
K. Edwards not out 40
Extras (b2, lb6, w12, nb3) 23
Total (without loss, 23.3 overs) 140
D.M. Bravo, R. Sarwan, M. Samuels, D.J. Bravo, *D. Sammy, +C. Baugh Jr, A. Martin, D. Bishoo, R. Rampaul
Bowling: *Shahid Afridi 6-0-31-0 (w6); Junaid Khan 3-1-16-0 (w1); Wahab Riaz 5-0-38-0 (nb2, w2); Saeed Ajmal 7-0-33-0 (w3); Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-10-0; Ahmed Shehzad 0.3-0-4-0 (nb1)
Result: West Indies won by 10 wickets
Series: Pakistan win five-match series 3-2
Toss: Pakistan
Man-of-the-Match: L. Simmons (West Indies)
Man-of-the-Series: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan)
Umpires: A. De Silva, N. Malcolm
