A superb finish to the inaugural match of this ODI series. Gayle bowled a brilliant 49th over, conceding just 6 runs but Kamran Akmal hit two big sixes in the final over to settle the game for Pakistan! The Pakistanis are rejoicing on the field and so they should, it's their first game in over four months, and after all the turmoil that has affected their cricket, this victory will come as big morale booster.
Chris Gayle was the star for West Indies with both bat and ball. He scored a brisk century and followed that performance up with some tight bowling in Pakistan's final few overs. However, some erratic bowling towards the end, and Akmal's heroics, thanks to some meaty length balls bowled in the final over, saw Pakistan sneak through to a fantastic win, just when it seemed the Windies had it wrapped up.
Shoaib Malik played a captain's innings, a pacy 66 off just 50 balls to keep Pakistan in the hunt throughout their innings. However, when he fell with the score on 262, West Indies most certainly had the edge. But they threw it away as they buckled under pressure, conceding overthrows, missing half-chances, and misfielding, to allow Pakistan to edge past them.
Chris Gayle: "I thought it was a good game. Pakistan paced their innings very well. We should have got a few more runs. I'll pick Taylor to bowl the last over any day, it was just one of his off days I guess. Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik batted brilliantly. Hopefully we'll have a good game again in the next couple of days."
Gayle is also the Man of the Match.
Shoaib Malik: "We haven't played international cricket in a while, but the way our batsmen played today, especially Akmal, it was brilliant. It was a team effort, the way we batted, bowled, and fielded. I had been playing in the Pentangular tournament, and so were many of my team mates, and that really helped. We have to assess Shiab Akhtar's fitness before we can confirm his availability for the next match."
Well, That's it folks. What a riveting start to the series, and hopefully we'll watch something equally exciting on the 14th when these two teams meet again.
Until then, it's adios from Siddhartha Talya on the commentary and Binoy George on the scoring desk. Goodnight!!
1 off 2. Pakistan should win this from here
4 off 3
10 off 4
17 needed off the last over
END OF OVER:49 | 6 Runs | PAK: 278/6 (17 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.67, RRR: 17.00)
- Fawad Alam24 (23b)
- Kamran Akmal9 (6b)
- Chris Gayle6-0-33-0
- Jerome Taylor9-0-37-2
They need a big one now.