Pakistan frittered away a promising position but still managed to post a competitive 137 for eight in the third T20 International against the West Indies at the Queen´s Park Oval in Trinidad on Saturday.
Veteran Kamran Akmal (48) and Babar Azam (43) had the visitors well poised for a total in excess of 160 as they put on 88 runs for the second wicket after Samuel Badree had removed Ahmed Shehzad and Imad Wasim in the first over of the match.
However the introduction of Marlon Samuels for his first bowl in international cricket for 18 months following the remodelling of his action earned the home side a vital breakthrough and turned the tide of play.
Samuels´ first delivery was an inviting waist-high full toss which Akmal attempted to heave out of the ground but could only find Lendl Simmons on the midwicket boundary.
New man Shoaib Malik, Pakistan´s top scorer in the thrilling three-run win on Thursday at the same venue, didn’t last long as he flicked a full-length delivery from West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite unerringly to Evin Lewis at long-leg.
Pakistan struggled for runs the rest of the way with a desperate West Indies team batting to limit the total to manageable proportions.
Just 45 runs came off the last eight overs with Badree the pick of the bowlers in claiming two for 22.
Holding an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series the visitors named an unchanged team with the focus again on talented leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who marked his first appearances at senior international level in this format of the game with successive man of the match performances.
Needing victory to keep interest in the series alive ahead of the final match on Sunday, West Indies made one change with batsman and occasional off-spinner Jason Mohammed making his T20 International debut at the expense of all-rounder Rovman Powell.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.