West Indies vs Pakistan 2nd ODI preview: Jolted hosts seek parity and progress
Shahid Afridi
Boom Boom. Crash. Bang. Wallop. Fast skidders. Ferocious fizzers. Shahid Afridi flashed his signature star-man pose as he delivered one of the greatest all-round displays ever to annihilate West Indies in the series opener at Guyana.
After scripting a stunning resuscitation of the Pakistani batting with a 55-ball-76, he recorded bowling figures 7-12- the second-best ODI bowling figure of all time- to announce his return to international cricket after being overlooked for the Champions Trophy.
Just like a sprinter carrying an anvil in his pocket, West Indies self-destructed again after Jason Holder splintered Pakistan’s top order. West Indies, simply have not improved their cricket. Same old inconsistency, and that’s plain to see.
Their batsmen lack the technique and temperament to build or rebuild an innings, the bowlers are erratic, and the captain’s struggle reflects the team’s. Rising lifters have caused the downfall of Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. Johnson Charles, The Bravo brothers and Marlon Samuels are all equally vulnerable against the swinging ball. West Indies will have to play out of their skins if they are to level the series when they face Pakistan in the second ODI at Guyana on Tuesday.
Jason Holder, who was the only silver lining in an otherwise disastrous outing, will keep his berth in the side ahead of Tino Best.
While doubts regarding Pakistan’s top order batting is justified, their well-rounded bowling attack is wholly capable of taking 10 wickets, irrespective of the pitch and conditions. Mohammed Irfan, melding pace with accuracy, set the tone for Pakistan’s defense on Sunday with a fiery spell before Afridi created history.
He may be woefully out of form with the bat but ‘Professor’ Mohammad Hafeez has been very effective with the ball in the recent past, sometimes even trumping Saeed Ajmal in the limited-over format.
With the seasoned trio of Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan jettisoned, the onus is now on the young crop of batsmen to step up to the challenge and translate obvious talent into performance.
Probable XIs:
WI: C Gayle, J Charles(wk), Darren Bravo, L Simmons, D Bravo(c), M Samuels, K Pollard, D Sammy, S Narine, K Roach, J Holder
Pak: N Jamshed, A Shehzad, M Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), A Shafiq, U Akmal(wk), S Afridi, W Riaz, S Ajmal, A Ali/ J Khan, M Irfan
In the spotlight:
K Pollard: He may be a T20 bigwig but Kieron Pollard is far from establishing himself in 50-overs cricket. His last five innings read 3,0,0,4,0. He will have to do way better if West Indies want to evade the dishonour of losing their third straight home series to the green army.
S Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq: Several aspersions were cast over Afridi’s comeback but the powerful Palthan squashed them with the ease of a jet whizzing past the clouds. While Awesome Afridi was in his zone, Misbah laboured his way to another workman-like fifty.
Prediction:
Pakistan will go 2-0 up in the 5 match series.