Sarfraz, Tanvir stud Pakistan’s dominating display

Pakistan 160 for 4 (Sarfraz 46*, Latif 40) beat West Indies 144 for 9 (Narine 30, Fletcher 29, Tanvir 3-13) by 16 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Pakistan had won 24 out of 27 T20Is in which they were defending 150 plus. On Saturday, they posted 160, 22 more than the average first inning score at this venue. That meant West Indies had to achieve the highest successful chase to take the series into the decider. On paper, it was advantage Pakistan, but cricket is played out on the field, sometimes on greasy ones because of heavy dew that negate any advantage teams batting first conjure.

Did it affect them? It didn’t look like, as yet another timid batting show that lacked application and self-belief resulted in West Indies falling 16 short of the target. It meant Sarfraz Ahmed extend his unbeaten run as T20I captain to three matches.

On these outfields, it isn’t unusual to see teams trying to overachieve while batting first in their quest to negate the dew factor. Perhaps the experience of having played all their home matches here since 2009 helped Pakistan set a clear mandate. If Shoaib Malik provided the fire through swift foot work and muscular hits in his 28-ball 37, top-scorer Sarfaz proved to be the ice in a 69-run stand off just 46 balls to drive the innings.

West Indies didn’t help their cause with ordinary fielding – chances were dropped and extra runs conceded through misfields – to further give Pakistan breathing space; 60 were …

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