GROS-ISLET, St. Lucia, CMC – Devendra Bishoo bowled memorably on his debut to follow-up a purposeful 65 from Lendl Simmons, and propel West Indies to a seven-run victory in their first-ever Twenty20 International against Pakistan yesterday.
The leg-spinner continued the impressive start to his international career with four wickets for 17 runs from four overs to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, as Pakistan, chasing 151 for victory, were restricted to 143 for nine in their 20 overs at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.
Ravi Rampaul supported with three for 31 from his allotted four overs.
The victory was a morale-boosting win for Darren Sammy’s side, after the build-up to the match was overshadowed by the public confrontation between former West Indies captain Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board.
Simmons had struck seven fours and two sixes in 65 from 44 balls to lead West Indies to 150 for seven from their allocation of 20 overs.
Sammy then had Mohammad Hafeez caught at backward square leg for three in the second over of Pakistan’s chase, and Rampaul had Ahmed Shahzad caught at mid-on for 12 in the fourth over.
Bishoo then swung the match West Indies’ way, when he had Asad Safiq caught at short mid-on for 25 with his fourth delivery, and Misbah-ul-Haq hit wicket for a first-ball duck next ball to leave Pakistan at 49 for four.
West Indies took a firm grip on the match, when Shahid Afridi drove Bishoo to extra cover, and Sammy leapt to hold an overhead catch. The Pakistan captain made 12.
The home team continued to pick off wickets in the remaining overs, but Umar Akmal kept the momentum going for Pakistan with the top score of 41.
Things appeared to get a little tight, when Rampaul conceded 15 from the penultimate over to leave the visitors needing 14 from the final over.
Andre Russell kept his nerve however, after a wide first delivery, and West Indies were able to put the tumult of the previous two days behind them.
Earlier, Simmons and Darren Bravo got West Indies on track, when they collected 14 boundaries between them in a 99-run stand for the second.
Simmons lofted Pakistani newcomer Junaid Khan for successive boundaries to long-on in the third over, and continued to pepper the boundary throughout his innings.
Bravo soon got into stride, driving Wahab Riaz over extra-cover and following up with an open-faced glide before dispatching Rehman over long-on for six.
With this pair at the crease, West Indies looked firmly in control, but Bravo was caught at long-on in the 13th over, and Simmons was run out two overs later to precipitate a slide.
West Indies lost four wickets for 25 in close to five overs, but Danza Hyatt and Christopher Barnwell stemmed the fall of wickets before a boundary from Ashley Nurse in the final over helped to push the total up.
Tomorrow, the two sides start a five-match One-day International series here.
West Indies (maximum 20 overs)
*A. Fletcher lbw b Abdur Rehman 1
L. Simmons run out (Wahab Riaz/+Mohammad Salman) 65
D.M. Bravo c Umar Akmal b Abdur Rehman 42
M. Samuels st Mohammad Salman b Saeed Ajmal 4
D. Hyatt c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 14
+D. Sammy c wkpr Mohammad Salman b Wahab Riaz 1
C. Barnwell not out 11
A. Russell c Abdur Rehman b Wahab Riaz 0
A. Nurse not out 6
Extras (lb1, w4, nb1) 6
TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 150
D. Bishoo, R. Rampaul did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (+Fletcher, 1.1 overs); 2-101 (D.M. Bravo, 12.2); 3-114 (Simmons, 14.3); 4-125 (Samuels, 16.5); 5-166 (*Sammy, 17.1); 6-141 (Hyatt, 18.6); 7-141 (Russell, 19.3)
Bowling: Junaid Khan 2-0-15-0; Abdur Rehman 4-0-22-0 (w1); Saeed Ajmal 4-0-35-2; Wahab Riaz 4-1-24-2 (nb1, w2); *Shahid Afridi 3-0-30-0; Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-23-0
Pakistan (target: 151 off 20 overs)
Ahmed Shahzad c Barnwell b Rampaul 12
Mohammad Hafeez c Nurse b *Sammy 3
Asad Shafiq c Hyatt b Bishoo 25
Umar Akmal c Samuels b Rampaul 41
Misbah-ul-Haq hit wicket b Bishoo 0
*Shahid Afridi c *Sammy b Bishoo 12
+Mohammad Salman run out (*Sammy) 5
Abdur Rehman b Bishoo 7
Wahab Riaz c *Sammy b Rampaul 6
Saeed Ajmal not out 21
Junaid Khan not out 3
Extras (b1, w1, nb6) 8
TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 143
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.4 overs); 2-20 (Ahmed Shehzad, 3.2); 3-49 (Asad Shafiq, 6.4); 4-49 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 6.5); 5-78 (*Shahid Afridi, 10.6); 6-93 (+Mohammad Salman, 13.6); 7-109 (Umar Akmal, 15.4); 8-110 (Abdur Rehman, 16.1); 9-123 (Wahab Riaz, 18.2)
Bowling: Rampaul 4-0-31-3 (nb4); *Sammy 3-0-26-1; Russell 4-0-28-0 (nb1, w1); Bishoo 4-0-17-4 (nb1); Barnwell 1-0-7-0; Barnwell 4-0-33-0
Result: West Indies won by seven runs
Series: West Indies win only T20I
Toss: West Indies
Man-of-the-Match: D. Bishoo (West Indies)
Umpires: N. Malcolm, P. Nero
Matchreferee: J. Crowe
TV umpire: G. Brathwaite
Reserve umpire: J. Wilson
