Afridi (4/38) as Pakistan win one-day series

THE West Indies had no answer to Afridi’s variations of flight and pace. Shahid Afridi produced a destructive spell of spin bowling as Pakistan sealed victory in their one-day series against West Indies. Afridi took four wickets for 38 runs as they won the second game by 40 runs in St Lucia to take a decisive 2-0 lead with one to play. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik both made 51 as Pakistan totalled 258 for eight wickets. In reply, West Indies managed only 218 all out. Runako Morton hit 55 in reply and Courtney Browne’s late flurry brought him 35 but could not save West Indies from an eighth successive defeat. Once again the home side looked low in confidence and Afridid could have had five wickets if keeper Kamran Akmal had reacted quickly enough to take an under-edge as Browne tried to cut.

The West Indies innings was given some early impetus by Chris Gayle, who hit a six and five fours in his 43 before being bowled by a beauty from Shabbir Ahmed which struck the top of off stump. Obviously the batting has been letting the west Indies down. After that, they were always struggling to keep up with the required rate and they could ill afford the needless run outs of skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made three and 17. Although Morton played some powerful shots, he survived a series of lbw appeals before finally reaching his first international 50.  Further emboldened by the achievement, he swung across the line at Afridi and was bowled. His dismissal left West Indies on 163 for five and from then on there was a regular procession back to the pavilion before they were bowled out with 10 balls remaining in the match.

Both sides were unchanged following Pakistan’s 59-run win in St Vincent on Wednesday, and Inzamam-ul-Haq chose to bat first after winning the toss. Afridi’s first scoring stroke was a six over cover but he only managed 12 before chipping Daren Powell to Wavell Hinds at mid-off. Powell then ran out Salman Butt for 16 after Shoaib Malik called him for a single which was never there, and Malik himself should have gone for one when he edge to slip where Gayle floored a straightforward, if sharp chance. Powell took one wicket for 27 runs in his seven-over burst with the new ball.

Yousuf Youhana made 21 before he was caught behind off Hinds but Inzamam was soon working the ball into gaps with minimum effort as he and Malik began to stabilise the innings. Inzamam’s innings was in two parts as he retired hurt on 33 after being struck by a full toss from Gayle, only to return later after Abdul Razzaq (20) had been bowled by a full length delivery from Corey Collymore. Malik was run out by Chanderpaul’s direct hit, but was kept busy as Inzamam’s runner and Younis Khan kept the scoreboard ticking over with 48.

Inzamam’s 81st half century in a limited overs international arrived with a boundary but he slashed the next ball from Gayle to gully where Dwayne Bravo flung himself to his left to take a superb catch. Bravo’s bowling was nowhere near as good, however, and he conceded 75 from a full 10-over allocation as Chanderpaul mysteriously kept Powell out of the attack. Kamran Akmal made 25 not out off 13 balls in the closing overs and although Collymore (3-40) prevented the scoring rate from getting out of hand by dismissing Younis and Rana Naved, Pakistan finished with more than enough on the board.