Karachi, April 23: Pakistan beat the West Indies by four wickets in a low scoring thriller to clinch the tri-nation one-day series in Port-of-Spain.
Pakistan made heavy weather of a modest victory target of 115 and lost six wickets before winning the decisive match of the best-of-three finals with 29 balls to spare.
Pakistan lost half the side at 73 and plunged into further trouble when Moin Khan departed with 22 runs still needed.
But Wasim Akram gave a good helping hand to Inzamam-ul-Haq who finished the match with an exquisite cover-drive for his fifth boundary in his unbeaten 39.
Reon King led West Indies' spirited fightback claiming four wickets for 25 runs to take his tally of wickets to 17 in the series.
Spinners send West Indies packing for 114 in decisive final
Qamar Ahmed
Port-Of-Spain (Trinidad), April 23: Pakistan, after bowling West Indies out for a paltry 114 in 32.2 overs, were struggling at 18 for two at lunch in the third and deciding final of the triangular one-day series at the Queen's Park Oval here on Sunday.
Pakistan lost openers, Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi, in the space of 9.2 overs.
Reon King forced Imran (4) to edge a catch to keeper Ridley Jacobs in the sixth over of the innings. In the final over before lunch, Afridi offered a simple catch to Franklyn Rose mid-on off King after making 13.
Earlier, excellent bowling by leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed saw West Indies routed for their lowest score on home soil. Mushtaq captured four for 22 in a dream spell, including three wickets in a sensational over that wrecked the West Indian middle-order.
Another telling factor was the inclusion of fiery speedster Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq in the playing XI for the first time on the tour. The two bowled a nagging length to pick up two wickets each for 31 and 20 runs respectively.
The duo replaced Waqar Younis and Arshad Khan in an otherwise unchanged Pakistan line-up.
Only three West Indians could get into double figures as Pakistan kept applying the pressure after Jimmy Adams won the all-important toss and decided to bat.
Openers Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell had given West Indies a sound start of 61 before the latter mistimed a drive to Inzamam-ul-Haq at mid-wicket off Abdur Razzaq in the 18th over. Campbell made 26.
In the next over, without any addition, Wallace was stumped off Mushtaq for 30. Thereafter, Pakistani bowlers made regular inroads as the West Indian batsmen were mesmerized by the guiles of Mushtaq.
Mushtaq's fifth over was the turning point. On the second ball he bowled Wavell Hinds for seven, on the fourth, Chris Gayle (0) offered a simple catch to Shahid Afridi on the leg side and on the last ball of the over Mushtaq had Ricardo Powell taken at backward point by Afridi, also without scoring.
From 61 for none, West Indies had slumped to 71 for five.
Ridley Jacobs was the next to go when Imran Nazir took a bat and pad catch off Saqlain Mushtaq in the 28th over.
Shoaib Akhtar, who had given away 20 runs in his first spell of four overs, returned to strike a deadly blow with the first ball of his sixth over when he beat Adams (9) for pace, uprooting the left-hander's off-stump.
Two balls later in the same over, Shoaib sent Curtly Ambrose's stumps flying. Saqlain Mushtaq then deceived Nixon McLean in flight to take a return catch. McLean contributed 15.
Last man King was run out by a brilliant throw from Afridi.