World Cup 2019, WI vs Pak: 3 mistakes which cost Pakistan the game

In the second match of the World Cup 2019, West Indies registered a convincing 7-wicket win over Pakistan. This was a match between two of the most unpredictable teams in the tournament so it was not easy to predict the result of this match. But it was not a close match as Windies humiliated Pakistan.

Earlier, Jason Holder won the toss and elected to field first. Pakistan got off to a horrible start as they lost both openers early. Babar Azam played some good shots as he looked in good nick but once he lost his wicket, Pakistan completely lost the plot. Their innings collapsed as Pakistan was all out for just 105.

Defending a target of 106 was never going to be easy. Pakistan needed early wickets but Chris Gayle provided the Windies with a great start as he scored a brilliant half century. Mohammad Amir picked three wickets but it was never going to be enough. Eventually, Windies chased down the target with 36.2 overs to spare as they opened their campaign with a bang.

Here we look at the 3 mistakes that Pakistan made in this game:

#1 Inability to play the short ball

The great West Indian teams in the past have terrorized batsmen with some chin music. Today, the bowlers from the Caribbean came with the same plan to expose the Pakistani batsmen. Traditionally, Asian batsmen are known to struggle against the short ball so it was clear that Jason Holder and his men came with a plan.

Earlier in the year, these Pakistani batsmen's inability to tackle the short ball had been exposed. It seems that they had failed to address that chink in their armour as Sarfaraz and Co. were like sitting ducks in front of the short ball.

This inability to play the short ball cost them the match as the batting line-up fully collapsed. The team management would have a lot of thinking to do in order to tackle the short ball in the coming matches.