THIRD TIME IN A ROW AS PAKISTAN CLOSE IN ON A SERIES WIN

Pakistani bowlers reigned for the third time in a row as the West Indians stuttered to another low total against the visitors in the third match of the five-match One Day series.

The third game was delayed due to rainfall. The ground staff at the Kensington Oval put in a special effort to ensure that no more than 5 overs per side are lost.

The crucial toss was won by Shahid Afridi and he had little hesitation in putting the hosts in to bat first.

In the overcast conditions, the hosts were circumspect at the start of their innings for a disappointing fourth time in a row. All-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez, grabbed an important wicket of Devon Smith, the West Indian opener.

Remarkably every time the left-handed batsman has been sent off the field, he is caught leg-before-wicket (lbw) by the off-spinner who seems clueless in spotting his varieties.

The two most successful batsmen in the series for the West Indies, Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons, added 86 runs following the fall of their team’s first wicket. Simmons was in scintillating form for the third time in the running but he failed to make the most of his form, falling for 51 runs off 64 balls.

Bravo was dismissed for 47 runs and once again it was the pinpoint accuracy of Hafeez that won him an lbw decision.

From there on, another West Indian collapse was inspiring. The middle and later order succumbed to a series of amateur strokes that defied the status of an international team comprising of professional players.

Pakistani bowlers tightened the grip and made full use of the West Indian approach. Marlon Samuels who was recalled at the start of the tour continued his lean trot.

Samuels was bowled by Junaid Khan, giving the left-handed bowler his first wicket in ODI cricket in his third game.

Kirk Edwards was run out after a promising start to his innings, while the West Indian day was summed up by the dismissal of captain, Darren Sammy, and Dwayne Bravo, both scooped catches to deep mid-on in one over, bowled by Wahab Riaz.

The hosts ended up with another below par score of 171 and they would now need to bowl out of their skins if they are to hold Pakistan back.

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Pakistan v West Indies - Pakistan’s convincing triumph at St. Lucia

Pakistan and West Indies camps were in contrasting moods after the first match of the five match series, which was won by the visitors by a convincing margin of 8 wickets.

Batting first the hosts limped to a total of 221 runs that too was only made possible by a late blip when it appeared that they would post a score of 200 runs at most, in reply the Pakistani batsmen made good use of a batting strip to coast home.

Three out of the four batsmen, who went out to bat scored half centuries, with Misbah Ul Haq top scoring with an unbeaten 73 run knock.

Youngster, Asad Shafiq, made another positive impression on his critics, making an unbeaten 61 studded with 7 fours.

On the other hand, man of the match, Mohammad Hafeez, scored an impressive 54 to lay the foundations of a canter of a run chase, which ended with more than 8 overs to spare.

West Indian captain, Darren Sammy, who hit some useful boundaries at the end of his team’s innings, thinks that his team was at least 50 runs short. He added that the batsmen dug a hole for themselves, as they allowed Pakistani spinners to dominate them.

Hafeez bowled an impressive spell of 10 overs, 2 maidens, 36 runs, for 1 wicket, while Afridi gave away only 40 runs in his quota. Saeed Ajmal was also equally impressive in his bowling spell.

Sammy thinks that the batsmen should have been more adventurous against the trio.

"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", he said. "We may need to show more intent in our 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”.

On the other hand, the Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, was elated with the performance of his team. He said that the decision by Sammy to field first after winning the toss was a bonus, as he thought that the wicket was a tricky one at the start of the innings with moisture underneath the surface a sure shot problem for the openers.

 "I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners", Afridi said. "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".

For the hosts the match was a disappointment, only one, amongst the recognized batsman, made an impression.

The upcoming left hander, Darren Bravo, anchored the innings with 67 before he was run out in the 45th over. His demise came at a crucial stage of the innings when the hosts had looked set for a bigger score especially if he would have batted out the quota.

The second match of the series would be played at the same venue on April 25, 2011.

Pakistan would be aiming to take a 2-0 lead in the competition and have a strong chance of making it happen. Their bowling attack has had the West Indies on the back foot ever since the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter final at Mirpur.

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