Pakistan pummel Windies to seal series
Hasan Ali starred with the ball as Pakistan wrapped up a series victory over West Indies with an emphatic seven-wicket triumph in Sunday’s fourth and final Twenty20 international in Trinidad.
Victory at the same venue 24 hours earlier had seen the Windies retain hope of earning a 2-2 draw, but the hosts were restricted to a modest total of 124-8 on Sunday as Hasan returned superb figures of 2-12 from four overs.
The seamer also ran out Lendl Simmons during a middle-order collapse from the Windies, while Shadab Khan claimed 2-16.
Pakistan had little trouble in hunting down their target, Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam striking 53 and 38 respectively to help the tourists home with an over to spare.
Shadab Khan is the Player of the Series for his splendid bowling #WIvPAK
— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) April 2, 2017
Although Evin Lewis – the match-winner in Saturday’s third T20 – fell cheaply to Imad Wasim after Pakistan had elected to field, Chadwick Walton provided initial encouragement for the Windies with a 31-ball 40 containing four maximums.
However, Walton’s departure to Shadab at the start of the ninth over triggered an alarming slump as Hasan came to the fore, bowling Marlon Samuels (22) and Jason Mohammed (1) either side of running out Simmons in his follow-through.
The Windies were in disarray at 83-7 before some late resistance from skipper Carlos Brathwaite (37 off 24 balls) boosted their total.
Nevertheless, it was smooth sailing for Pakistan during a run-chase that featured an early injury scare for Kieron Pollard, the powerful all-rounder seemingly hurting his left knee in the first over.
Kamran Akmal fell for 20 when he clipped Samuels straight to midwicket, but Shehzad and Babar shared 70 for the second wicket to all but secure victory.
Kesrick Williams was on a hat-trick after he bowled Shehzad behind his legs at the end of the 16th over and then ousted Babar at the start of his next set of six.
Yet those wickets only delayed the inevitable, Shoaib Malik – who was dropped off Williams – and Sarfraz Ahmed completing the job for Pakistan.
