On a tired, used and slow pitch in St Vincent, West Indies denied Pakistan any pace and kept them down to 135, which could yet prove to be a fighting total. Having bowled and fielded poorly in the first match, failing to defend 152, West Indies seemed to have learned their lesson: Darren Sammy opened the bowling and bowled out in one go, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine did their bit, and Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were used too. Pakistan were stifled, struggled to time their shots, and when they did time it, they often managed to hit into the wind.
Pakistan took 39 for 1 off the Powerplay; the next time their run rate crossed 6.5 was in the 19th over when Umar Akmal salvaged the effort in the end with an unbeaten 46 off 36. During the Powerplay, Narine had started poorly, giving away 10 in his first over, and Ahmed Shehzad was going strong. It was only downhill after that. Sammy accepted a return catch from Umar Amin in the next over; not much later Badree ran back to take a stunner off his own bowling; and when Pakistan finally looked to open up towards the end, Narine came back with a spell of 3-0-16-3.
Shehzad, who scored 44 off 46, found little support from the other end. Mohammad Hafeez, opening in the absence of the dropped Nasir Jamshed, was caught on the late cut again. Amin was done in trying to drive on the up. Haris Sohail swung before he got used to the pace of the pitch. Shahid Afridi hit Narine into the strong wind and in the air. Shehzad perished trying to pull Kieron Pollard, who had dug the ball in and provided no pace to go with.
At 96 for 5 in the 16th over, it seemed Pakistan would struggle to get to a defendable total, but Akmal kept them in the game. Most of his good work came in the 19th over when Bravo went round the stumps and angled the ball across Akmal with little cover on the cover boundary. He was taken for a four and a six in the 16-run over, but Narine ended his good spell with just six runs in the 20th.
Pakistan move up to No. 2 - behind Sri Lanka - in the ICC rankings for T20 teams. Their bowlers were outstanding today. Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal gave them a par score to defend and the bowlers stifled and dismantled the West Indies top order. The contest was over inside the first six overs of the chase.
That brings to an end Pakistan's fruitful tour of the Caribbean. They go home with an ODI and T20 trophy. For West Indies, a disappointing home season comes to an end. They beat Zimbabwe a few months ago, but did not make the tri-series final (India and Sri Lanka did) and then suffered two series defeats against Pakistan.
Pakistan took 39 for 1 off the Powerplay; the next time their run rate crossed 6.5 was in the 19th over when Umar Akmal salvaged the effort in the end with an unbeaten 46 off 36. During the Powerplay, Narine had started poorly, giving away 10 in his first over, and Ahmed Shehzad was going strong. It was only downhill after that. Sammy accepted a return catch from Umar Amin in the next over; not much later Badree ran back to take a stunner off his own bowling; and when Pakistan finally looked to open up towards the end, Narine came back with a spell of 3-0-16-3.
Shehzad, who scored 44 off 46, found little support from the other end. Mohammad Hafeez, opening in the absence of the dropped Nasir Jamshed, was caught on the late cut again. Amin was done in trying to drive on the up. Haris Sohail swung before he got used to the pace of the pitch. Shahid Afridi hit Narine into the strong wind and in the air. Shehzad perished trying to pull Kieron Pollard, who had dug the ball in and provided no pace to go with.
At 96 for 5 in the 16th over, it seemed Pakistan would struggle to get to a defendable total, but Akmal kept them in the game. Most of his good work came in the 19th over when Bravo went round the stumps and angled the ball across Akmal with little cover on the cover boundary. He was taken for a four and a six in the 16-run over, but Narine ended his good spell with just six runs in the 20th.
Pakistan move up to No. 2 - behind Sri Lanka - in the ICC rankings for T20 teams. Their bowlers were outstanding today. Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal gave them a par score to defend and the bowlers stifled and dismantled the West Indies top order. The contest was over inside the first six overs of the chase.
That brings to an end Pakistan's fruitful tour of the Caribbean. They go home with an ODI and T20 trophy. For West Indies, a disappointing home season comes to an end. They beat Zimbabwe a few months ago, but did not make the tri-series final (India and Sri Lanka did) and then suffered two series defeats against Pakistan.