The West Indies will be seeking to bounce back after their atrocious 126- run loss to Pakistan in the first one day international of the five-match series at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence on Sunday.
After a gutsy performance from Pakistan skipper Misbah ul-Haq, reinforced by a world-class all-round exhibition of cricket from the unpredictable Shahid `Boom Boom’ Afridi, hosts West Indies will be heading into today’s match with not just pride at stake but searching tests of Captain Dwayne Bravo and other key players.
From a batting perspective, both teams were watchful from the first ball. Pakistan’s top order was unable to cope with the swing and pace of Jason Holder who knocked off the top four in no time. West Indies on the other hand, were clueless against the beguiling spin of Afridi who picked them off one by one until he ended with 7 wickets for 12 runs off 10 overs, the perfect icing to his brutal knock of 76.
Pakistan openers Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed will look to improve in their starts today. Shehzad has one half century on the tour so far against Guyana in the warm-up match while Jamshed who is known for his dangerous power hitting has not yet fired.
Mohammed Hafeez, the ICC world ranked number 2 all-rounder has not yet shown his worth on the tour thus far and will need to step up before the T20’s arrive, as he is the team’s skipper in that format.
Other batsmen in the middle, such as Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal will have to show responsibility when they step up to the crease. The skipper Misbah need not to worry about his form against the hosts, he averages 79.33 against them from 11 ODI’s and remains the best batsman in the team in terms of patience, grit and class.
The bowling department has no worries. The seamers continue to do their job and will be led by the giant Mohammad Irfan and might possibly see the return of Junaid Khan.
The hosts will need to get off to a good start with the likes of Chris Gayle who was unfortunately run out on Sunday along with his opening partner Johnson Charles who is in decent form but failed to score in the first ODI.
The likes of Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels and the big-hitting Keiron Pollard who is due anytime, along with the skipper Bravo fresh from injury and looking to get his eyes back in, will need to stabilize the middle order and register match winning scores. Darren Sammy who has been a reliable contributor will need to maintain his all-round form as the tournament progresses.
The bowling unit has so far shown no problems or concerns. Holder and Kemar Roach showed good form in the last game. Spinner and ICC world ranked number one bowler, Sunil Narine has not performed well in recent ODI’s and would be aiming to bring back some “magic and mystery”.
The match starts at 9:00hrs at the Providence National Stadium.
Pakistan (probable): Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Irfan.
West Indies (probable): Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles (wk), Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Kemar Roach/Tino Best, Sunil Narine and Jason Holder.
