NEWS
Follow UsWest Indies were hammered 0-3 by Pakistan in the three-match T20I series but skipper Nicholas Pooran was mighty pleased with the courage his team displayed in the third and final encounter in Karachi on Thursday (December 16). West Indies had to dig deep into their resources after five more members from their set-up tested positive for Covid.
The three ODIs between the two sides have been postponed to June next year. Rapid Antigen tests were conducted on the remaining 15 players and six support staff members on Thursday, all of which came back negative, allowing the third and final T20I in Karachi to go ahead as scheduled.
With the visitors depleted of resources due to the spread of the virus within the camp, the PCB and the WICB mutually decided to push the 50-over series. This is not the first such outbreak on the tour in West Indies camp as Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers had tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday (December 11) after their arrival in Pakistan and were consequently ruled out of the series.
“Most of the guys haven't slept the whole night and I'm very proud of the unit. I want to commend all the guys for making that extra effort to come out to play today. We spent the whole day wondering whether we should play this game or not. Lot of positives and a lot of guys took their opportunities. A special bunch of guys and we have competed throughout and well done to the guys,” said Pooran after West Indies lost the final T20I by seven wickets.
Talking about the on-field action, West Indies amassed 207/3 in their 20 overs but it was still not enough as Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam smashed big fifties in the second innings and helped Pakistan chase down the target with seven deliveries to spare. “Felt like the last two overs, we lost the momentum. Pakistan bowled well. We were 15 runs short on this wicket,” said Pooran, who himself smoked 64 off 37 deliveries.
Chasing a massive score, Rizwan (45-ball 87) and Babar (53-ball 79) put on 158 runs in 15.1 overs and gave Pakistan a phenomenal start. In the process, Rizwan became the first batter to score 2000 T20 runs in a calendar year, while Pakistan pulled off their highest run chase ever in the shortest format of the game.
“207 is a big target in T20s, the coach told us to target the circle [probably hinting at the 30-yard circle in the powerplay] as the West Indies had done and that was the first target which we achieved and then our task became easier. I have focused better and I don't know how many runs I have got this year,” said Rizwan, who was named player of the match and series.
Talking about his opening partnership with Babar, Rizwan said: "When you have the World No.1 batter with you at the crease, you needn't worry about anything. All you've got to do is to observe and learn from the best. The key to our successful partnership is our communication. We keep taking singles, keep setting targets, target some fielders, which in turn makes it easier for us to dominate."
Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Babar said they already have their eyes set on the next T20 World Cup and also heaped heavy praise on his opening partner Rizwan. “The way Rizwan has played throughout the year and the way he has improved his batting - all the youngsters should look at him and take him as a role model.
“Definitely the plan was to play according to the situation. We thought of managing the run-rate and once we had the momentum, we took off. The effort put in by the seamers in the series has been impressive. It was a chance to test our bench strength today and I'm happy. We are preparing for the T20 World Cup in Australia and the team is giving 100 percent.”