It was utter mayhem as West Indies ran riot over Pakistan to defeat them by 150 runs at Christchurch cricket ground . Coming into the match both teams had rather forgettable starts to their world cup campaigns. While Pakistan were beaten comprehensively by neighbors India,West Indies had to deal with a shock loss to minnows Ireland .No amount of lip service had been able to justify their defeats but both teams had since devoted themselves to training harder and longer.
The two teams were hardly alien to each other and attempted to draw their plans from past duels. The Windies did have a better head-to-head record but then again, the current group of players were only pale shadows of legends who helped the side dominate in the past. Of the 126 ODIs between the two teams, West Indies had won 68 as against 55 won by Pakistan with three tied games. Even in World Cups, the team from the Caribbeans had a 6-3 record.Past stats do not guarantee wins and on paper, the current Pakistani side would have fancied its chances against a coach-less Windies team.
Winning the toss Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq put West Indies into bat looking to exploit the initial bowling assistance from the pitch . The idea seemed to have worked initially as the danger man Chris Gayle was removed for a score of 4 early in the innings but soon West Indies begin to build momentum . Handy contributions form Bravo and Samuels , half centuries from Ramdin and Simmons meant West Indies were on course for a big total . But it was an explosive 43 of just 13 balls by Andre Russell which meant that West Indies reached a total of 310 for 6.
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| Andre Russell Flashes Over Slips |
In reply,Pakistan had the worst possible start as Caribbean pace-man Jerome Taylor ripped through their top order reducing them to a bizarre score of 1 for 4 as three of their top four batsmen were out for ducks. Fine efforts from Umar Akmal and Shoaib Maqsood went in vain. Both scored fifties and brought some respect to a rather dismal performance from Pakistan, as they were bundled for a low score of 160 by Windies.
The only question that now remains is that, Whether Pakistan can forge a comeback from this situation? This is something to watch out for..
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| Dejected looking Sohail Khan walks off the feild after the match |
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