West Indies vs Pakistan 2013: 5th ODI - Five talking points

Pakistan won the five-match series 3-1

West Indies crashed to yet another series defeat at home in 2013 after Pakistan won the last encounter of the five-match series to post a convincing 3-1 victory.

This was the third successive bilateral away series that Pakistan won but the more immediate context of eviction at group stage from the Champions Trophy emphasizes the importance of this achievement. Their performance was deeply flawed, but they were better than their opponents by a clear margin.

West Indies gradually improved in all departments throughout the series, but they fell short against the consistency and grit of Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

Pakistan’s captain scored another critical innings in the last match, scoring 63 runs when wickets were falling at the other end. He was dismissed when a single run was required as he tried to casually hit the winning runs.

Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and put West Indies in to bat first. After the early dismissals of Devon Smith and Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Johnson Charles steadied the ship but Md. Irfan struck a couple of times to ensure that West Indies were restricted to a score of 242 despite the late exploits of captain Dwayne Bravo.

Pakistan made a steady start to the chase as Ahmed Shehzad scored his first substantial innings in the series. After the dismissal of Md. Hafeez, Pakistan were able to build valuable partnership as Misbah-ul-Haq dropped anchor at one end. Umar Akmal played a characteristic knock when a greater run rate was required. Shahid Afridi blasted a couple of boundaries to finish the job.

Here are five talking points that were generated from the game and this series:

5. Junaid Khan’s potential

Junaid Khan

The left-handed bowler picked up key-top order wickets in the match finishing with 3/48 in his 10 overs. Pakistan has been the traditional home of great swing bowlers, and they continue to produce new and exciting talent.

Junaid Khan finished with an impressive return of 7 wickets in the last 3 matches that he played a part in. His ability to make the new ball talk is all the more impressive because of the threat the in-dipping ball poses to the right-handed batsmen, bringing in the leg-before wicket dismissal into play.

He is not liable to drifting onto the pads of the batsmen which is a rare quality attained only by exercising control over the swing. He was, thus, one of the more economical bowlers during the season, going under 5 runs an over.