Tight bowling by spinners and then a clinical chase courtesy of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam’s sterling batting performances allowed Pakistan to beat West Indies by eight wickets in the third T20I and finish the series 3-0.
After restricting West Indies for 153 runs, Pakistan began the chase on a solid note as Fakhar batted with brute aggression in the powerplays. The left-hand batsman smashed 40 runs off just 17 balls with six fours and two sixes and allowed Pakistan to reach 61 in just 5.2 overs.
After Fakhar’s blitz, Hussain Talat joined Babar Azam and the duo added 52 runs for the second wicket and closed the game for the visitors. Babar was dismissed for 51 runs off 40 balls in the 13th over by Odean Smith.
Asif Ai (25 runs off 16 balls) then completed the proceedings with Hussain who remained unbeaten on 31 runs off 28 balls and registered an eight-wicket victory for the home team in the 17th over itself.
Earlier in the match, West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision which proved disastrous as Chadwick Walton was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz in the third over itself.
Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels tried to arrest the damage and scored a steady partnership of 72 runs for the second wicket in 59 balls. Shadab Khan castled Samuels (31 off 25 balls) in the 12th over to break this stand.
West Indies then lost wickets at regular intervals and Fletcher too departed after scoring 52 runs off 43 balls. The visitors were tottering at 96 for five wickets at one stage but Dinesh Ramdin’s sensational counter-attack of 42 runs off just 18 balls (four fours and three sixes) allowed West Indies to reach 153 runs after 20 overs.
Shadab picked two wickets while Nawaz and Usman Khan grabbed one each.
With this win, Pakistan completed the whitewash and won the series 3-0.
