Pakistan played "good cricket all around" in ODI opener against Windies: Afridi

Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi has said that it was “good cricket all around” for his team, which registered a comfortable eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the first one-day international (ODI) of the five-match series on Saturday.

“I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners,” the Dawn quoted Afridi, as saying.

“I think our spinners have been doing a great job for us in the last few months, and they again set things up for us,” he added.

Misbah-ul-Haq was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 73 off 90 deliveries, and Asad Shafiq supported him with 61 not out from 76 balls, after man-of-the-match Mohammad Hafeez gave Pakistan a flying start with 54 runs off 45 balls in their successful chase of 222 for victory.

Shafiq ushered Pakistan over the finish line with 51 balls remaining, when he edged a slog at a delivery from Kemar Roach to the ‘third man’ for a single.

“The way the openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad played was also good to see, and then the partnership between Misbah and Asad brought us home. It was good cricket all around for us,” said Afridi.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said: “We put ourselves in a hole when we were batting, and the spinners were bowling, so we really have to come better in the next game.”

“I was surprised to see the pitch offer so much turn and bounce, but I will back our guys. We will put in the hard work at practice and come back,” he added.

Sammy said that his team needs to ‘show more intent’ in its approach.

“We have a new batting coach, and he has been doing some good work, but we can’t lose sight of us reaching 221 coming from our position in the middle of the innings, so hopefully we can improve on this next time,” he added.

The second game in the five-match ODI series is at the same venue on Monday. The third and fourth ODIs will be played on April 28 and May 2 at Kensington Oval in Barbados, with the final match of the series on May 5 at the Guyana National Stadium.