Pakistan’s bowlers did just enough to restrain a rampant Nicholas Pooran and come away with a seven-run victory over the West Indies in the second T20 International of the four-match series here on Saturday.
Pooran’s explosive unbeaten 62 off 33 balls with six 6s and four 4s kept the West Indies in with a chance until the final over when 20 runs were required to overhaul Pakistan’s 157 for eight.
However, Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed captain Kieron Pollard and then denied Pooran to ensure the visitors were kept to 150 for four. Also, off-spinning all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, bowling the first over, dismissed Andre Fletcher with his second ball and conceded just six runs in his four overs.
West Indies suffered another setback when opening batsman Evin Lewis retired hurt on 35 midway through the innings.
Earlier, Jason Holder and Dwayne Bravo put the brakes on the Pakistan scoring rate.
Holder returned figures of 4/26 while Bravo claimed 2/24 as the tourists squandered a solid platform provided by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Babar’s polished 51 (58, 2×6, 4×4) was the top core of the innings.
The scores: Pakistan 157/8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 46, Babar Azam 51; Jason Holder 4/26) bt West Indies 150/4 (Evin Lewis 35, Nicholas Pooran 62 n.o.).
Toss: West Indies.
MoM: Hafeez; Pakistan won by seven runs to lead four-match series 1-0.
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