GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – West Indies captain Jason Holder has once again lamented the lack of an all-round team effort, following his side’s 2-1 series loss to Pakistan here yesterday.
Chasing their first series win over the Pakistanis in nearly three decades, West Indies succumbed to a six-wicket defeat at the Guyana National Stadium, with only a few players coming to the fore.
Shai Hope (71) and Jason Mohammed (59) got half-centuries but just one other batsman passed 20 as the Windies were restricted to 233 for nine off their 50 overs.
“We’ve got a few positives to shout about. Obviously credit must go to [Jason Mohammed], I thought he played a really good series,” said Holder.
“Shai Hope came in today and played a really good innings but it is just about getting a collective effort going now.
“I think we’ve come to a stage where we’ve got individual performances but not being able to get over the line so I think that’s one of the things we have to work on going forward.”
Defending a low total, West Indies started strongly when they reduced Pakistan to 36 for three in the ninth over, with speedster Shannon Gabriel (2-60) claiming the dangerous Kamran Akmal off the first ball of the innings and also removing the prolific Babar Azam (16).
However, veteran Shoaib Malik carved out a superb, unbeaten 101 off 111 deliveries in a 113-run fourth wicket stand with Mohammad Hafeez who made 81 from 86 balls, to rally the innings.
The trio of off-spinner Ashley Nurse, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul managed just one wicket in the 24 overs they sent down, and Holder noted this lack of incisiveness had hurt the Windies at a key stage of the game.
“We started well with the ball, got early wickets, put them under pressure but we didn’t get the wickets in the middle from the spinners,” Holder pointed out.
“Credit must go to how Mohammad Hafeez played and also Shoaib Malik. They really set the platform for Pakistan and they batted deep.”
And though the pitch was a difficult one to score freely on, Holder said he could not blame the track for his side’s performance.
“I can’t fault the pitch. I must say this is one of the better pitches I have seen here in Guyana for a very long time,” the Barbadian all-rounder said.
“Credit must go to the ground-staff here and I hope we can get pitches like this going forward in the future here in Guyana.”
