The 1st T20 between Pakistan and West Indies was all about cricket returning to Pakistan, a country with a loyal fan base for the sport. The crowd turned up in numbers to witness an international cricket match and the atmosphere was promising.
Apart from that, there was very little to talk about as West Indies surrendered completely against the hosts and were crushed by whopping 143 runs. Pakistan first amassed 203 runs, their joint-highest score in a T20 international and then routed out the visitors for just 60 runs.
Chasing the mammoth total of 204 runs, West Indies lost wickets from the first over and never looked in the game at any moment. Mohammad Nawaz sent back Chadwick Walton on the fourth ball of the innings while Andre Fletcher and captain Jason Mohammad were dismissed in the second over by Mohammad Amir.
The visitors never recovered from this setback and were completely destroyed by Pakistan’s brilliant combination of pace and spin. The entire team was dismissed in the 14th
Nawaz, Amir, and Shoaib Malik picked up two wickets each while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan grabbed one wicket each.
Earlier in the evening, Fakhar Zaman (39 off 24 balls) gave Pakistan a solid start and then Hussain Talat (41 off 37 balls) and Sarfraz Ahmed (38 off 22 balls) added 75 runs for the third wicket to take Pakistan to a comfortable position.
Talat and Sarfraz were dismissed in the 15th and 16th over, while Asif Ali perished in the next over, leaving Pakistan at 156 for five after 17.1 overs. But then Shoaib Malik ’s sensational cameo of 37 runs off just 14 balls propelled Pakistan to 200 runs.
Shoaib Malik tagged with Faheem Ashraf (16 off nine balls) to accumulate 44 runs in the last two overs. Keemo Paul was the lone effective bowler from West Indies as he gave away only 26 runs in his four overs and picked up one wicket as well.
