Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of today's World Cup 2019 match between Pakistan and West Indies at Trent Bridge.
It was never going to be easy for Pakistan to win the match, not after it was bowled out for 105 thanks to fiery spells of bowling from the West Indies seamers. Chris Gayle spearheaded the run chase with a trademark, entertaining fifty and Nicholas Pooran sealed the win with a maximum. That would be all from our side. Thanks for joining us.
Adios!
======================================
Riaz's bad day keeps getting worse with each passing over. Pooran, now, makes room and hits oe to third-man for four, brings up the Windies 100. And he ends it with a six. West Indies have cruised to victory with seven wickets in hand.
Hetmyer joins Pooran. Pooran's wasting no time... collects a boundary and a six off Riaz and the Windies are within striking distance of a win here. 14 runs coming from the over. West Indies needs 15 runs to win. Five more from Hassan Ali's 4th over. This will be a thumping win for the Caribbean lads!
Gayle brings up the team 50 with a single off Amir. Pooran, in the meantime, fetches a wide, short delivery from outside off and pulls it past mid-wicket for four. Eight runs coming off it. Payback time for Gayle: 6, 4, 4 against Riaz but he seems to have pulled a muscle in his back. 15 off the over. Pooran joins the fun, carves an Amir delivery through sweeper cover for four. GONE! Amir gets the danger man; Chris Gayle perishes trying to keep up the ante. WI 77/3 after 11 overs.
Amir strikes twice: this time it's Darren Bravo who has edged one to Babar Azam in the slips. West Indies two down for less than 50. Pooran joins Gayle. Only two off the over. Wahab Riaz has been introduced into the attack. Maiden to get Riaz's World Cup underway. WI 48/2 after 8 overs.
Gayle's in the house, ladies and gents. Two towering sixes off Hassan Ali and Wes Indies' run-chase is off to a breezy start. 16 off the over. Hope joins the fun, carves Amir over long-off for four. GONE! Amir has his revenge. Hope is caught! West Indies one down. Darren Bravo in at 3. Six from the over. Hassan Ali to continue. Gayle continues to flay the bowlers, collects four more. And another four to end the over. Eight off it. WI 46/1 after 6 overs.
Tidy first over from Amir. Just two runs coming off it. Hassan Ali to share the new ball with Amir. Starts off with a wide. Gayle announces his presence with two back-to-back boundaries. 10 off the over. Amir to continue. Just from from it. WI 16/0 after 3 overs.
Gayle and Shai Hope march out to the middle. Amir with the new ball.
=================================
West Indies seamers breathed fire with Andre Russell's twin strikes crippling the top-order before Jason Holder and Oshane Thomas ran through the lower middle-order to restrict Pakistan to a paltry score. West Indies needs 106 to win.
=================================
Riaz the last man in. He has launched a Holder delivery over mid-wicket for six. He follows it up with another four and a six as Pakistan limps past 100. Russell's limping on the field... Meanwhile, Thomas has cleaned up Riaz. A four wicket haul for him as Pakistan folds for a modest 105. This is now Pakistan's second lowest score in the World Cup.
And they continue to tumble. Oshane Thomas gets his second: traps Shadab Khan in front as Pakistan slips from 45/3 to 78/7. Three from it. Hasan Ali joins Hafeez. Holder gets a third! Jeez. Pakistan are committing harakiri... Hasan Ali departs as well. Eight down for 81. Make that nine. Thomas, too, grabs a third as Hafeez departs to a short ball. 9/84.
Thomas to continue after drinks. Gayle standing in the slips. Bumper! Short ball from Thomas flies over the batsman's head, and Hope is airborne as he pouches the ball. Just a three from it. Holder returns into the attack and gets his counterpart Sarfaraz Ahmed out caught behind first ball. West Indies reviewed and replays confirmed the faintest of nicks. Pakistan five down. Another one for Holder, and Pakistan are reeling. Imad Wasim departs. PAK 77/6 after 17 overs.
Oshane Thomas has been brought into the attack. Babar pulls one to deep mid-wicket for four. Eight off the over. Brathwaite goes for just four in his third. GONE! Shai Hope is having a good game behind the stumps. Goes flying to his right to brilliantly pocket an outside edge off Babar. Oshane Thomas strikes . Mohammad Hafeez comes to the crease. He gets off the mark with two successive boundaries. Eight off the over. Brathwaite testing Hafeez with a few short deliveries. Only two from his over. PAK 72/4 after 15 overs.
Russell to continue. He continues to pepper the Pakistan batsmen with short balls, does Dre Russ. GONE! Russell gets another one : Haris Sohail edges one to the keeper and Pakistan are three down for less than 50 on the board. Sarfaraz Ahmed is welcomed to the crease with a brute yorker. Wicket maiden from Russ! Brathwaite to continue. DROPPED! Babar Azam has been grassed at backward point on 12. Hetmyer the culprit. Five from the over. 50 up for Pakistan with a boundary to fine leg. PAK 50/3 after 11 overs.
Haris Sohail ruins a perfectly fine over from Cottrell with a lofted hit over cover to get off the mark. Five runs from it. Russell to continue. Another tight over from the Jamaican all-rounder. Only two off it. Carlos Brathwaite, right-arm fast medium, has been brought into the attack. Just three from it. PAK 45/2 after 9 overs.
Fakhar rides the bounce and scythes Holder through
the covers backward-point for four, before timing one past covers for three. Babar joins the fun: flicks it past mid-wicket for another 3. 10 runs off the over. Babar's showing his class now - Cottrell bowls a full toss and Babar carves it through covers. Six from the over.
Andre Russell has been introduced into the attack. Timbah! Russell castles Zaman and Pakistan have lost a second wicket. Haris Sohail at the crease.
Two runs and a wicket. PAK 35/2 after 6 overs.
Cottrell starts off with a wide. Just one off the over. Skipper Jason Holder to share the new ball. Fakhar opens his account with three. Imam gets off the mark as well, with a quick single. SIX! Fakhar has flicked it over deep square leg for the first six of the match. 10 off the over. Cottrell to continue. Short and wide from Cottrell, and Fakhar has slapped that over cover for four more. GONE! Imam has edged one to the keeper, and Cottrell strikes. Pakistan one down. Babar Azam in at 3. PAK 17/1 after 3 overs.
Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq open for Pakistan, Shedlon Cottrell to start proceedings with the new ball.
================================
TOSS UPDATE: Jason Holder has won the toss and West Indies will bowl first.
West Indies (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran(w), Andre Russell, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
Jason Holder: "I don't think the conditions are going to change much. We had a good camp and two decent warm-up matches. Evin Lewis is not fit and Shannon Gabriel is also not fit."
Sarfraz Ahmed: "We wanted to field first because of the moisture on the wicket and overcast conditions. It doesn't matter, if we survive first few overs then it will be a good pitch. Our batters are in good form."
PITCH REPORT| "There's just a tinge of green grass on the pitch. Fast bowlers or spinners won't be too excited about that. There's no moisture on the pitch. The ball will come onto the bat nicely," reckons Michael Holding.
UPDATE: Pakistan has left Shoaib Malik, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain out of its team for the first match. Shannon Gabriel , who is yet to regain full fitness, is unlikely to feature in today's match.
=============================
Built in the 1930as, the stadium, which can hold 15,350 spectators, is the world’s second oldest cricket ground after Lord’s| Spotlight Trent Bridge
Pakistan fans are in readiness!
Shai Hope smashed his way to a blistering 101 while Andre Russell scored a quickfire 54 down the order to set up a 91-run win for West Indies in its warm-up against New Zealand| Hope, Brathwaite shine in Windies' 91-run win
Only two of the players from the 2015 World Cup have made the team this time, but Pakistan will be hoping not to make the same mistakes while trying to write a new chapter of history| When Pakistan cricket was revolutionised
Boasting world-class power-hitters such as Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer, garnished with a bit of elegance from Shai Hope, few will be surprised to see the West Indies make a deep run at the 2019 ICC World Cup| Team West Indies preview: Bowling, chink in Windies’ armour
Pakistan's Shadab Khan will be one of the trump cards for the team. The 20-year-old, already third in the world Twenty20 bowling rankings, has caught the eye of none other than Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan -- who led Pakistan to its only World Cup win in 1992| From village cricket to World Cup: The Shadab Khan story
Pakistan seamer Hasan Ali says he is not worried about the prospect of flat pitches that are likely to favour batsmen during the World Cup in England and Wales| Pakistan’s Hasan does not fear flat pitches at World Cup
West Indies captain Jason Holder has backed opener Shai Hope to shine at the Cricket World Cup| WI vs PAK: Hope backed to shine by West Indies captain Holder
Mohammad Hasnain has turned heads after first arriving on the national scene in 2015 and sending down balls at a blistering 150kph (93 mph)| 'Surprise package' - Pakistan's 150kph teen with World Cup in his sights
In its tournament opener, Pakistan, which has lost 11 combined official and unofficial ODIs on the trot, faces West Indies, which comes in to the game on the back of a thumping warm-up victory over New Zealand.
Here's today's Match Preview:
Pakistan will seek inspiration from its dramatic Champions Trophy win in England two years ago when it takes the field in its opening World Cup match against a resurgent West Indies on Friday.
Pakistan has lost its past ten one-day internationals including a 5-0 whitewash by Australia and 4-0 thumping by England, and its problems were further compounded when it went down to outsiders Afghanistan by three wickets in a warm-up match.
READ| SWOT analysis: Pakistan seeks consistency at World Cup
But skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed hopes his side will draw inspiration from when it was in a similar position in 2017.
“We will seek inspiration from our Champions Trophy win because then also we were losing and then we lifted ourselves at the right time to win the trophy,” Sarfaraz said ahead of the game in Nottingham.
Pakistan had lost 4-1 in Australia before the tournament and arch-rivals India whipped it by 124 runs in the opening game of the tournament.
But Pakistan then beat South Africa, Sri Lanka and England on their way to the final, where it thumped India by 180 runs.
“The boys are motivated and are eager to put the losses behind them and by playing in England for a month we are well prepared and you will hopefully see us doing well,” said Sarfaraz, one of Pakistan's only two survivors from the 2015 World Cup, with left-handed batsman Haris Sohail being the other.
ALSO READ| Pakistan’s Hasan does not fear flat pitches at World Cup
Sarfaraz will also hope his spearhead Mohammad Amir -- playing his first World Cup after missing the 2011 and 2015 editions due to a spot-fixing ban -- will dismantle the West Indies top order boasting of hard-hitting opener Chris Gayle and the impressive Shai Hope.
“We know Amir is an impact bowler and he knows his responsibilities and I am sure he will lift his bowling and get us early wickets,” said Sarfaraz of Amir, who recovered from chickenpox in time to get a World Cup call after being left out of the preliminary squad.
Amir factor
His form will be crucial for Pakistan -- he has taken just five wickets in 15 matches since his match-winning three wickets against India in the Champions Trophy final.
Pakistan has only won three times in 10 World Cup matches against the two-time world champions Windies, including a thumping 150-run loss at Christchurch in 2015.
Russell smashed 54 off 25 balls and Hope hit a century to propel the West Indies side to a mammoth 421 in their warm-up win against New Zealand on Tuesday.
That prompted all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite to say his team can break the 500-barrier.
“If you are asking me if we are capable of it, definitely we are,” Brathwaite said. “However, in a real game you probably won't have the depth in batting at 10 and 11 that we had today. So you need to be a little real about the target.”
West Indies are also returning to form after sneaking their way into the World Cup through a qualifying round in Zimbabwe last year.
They squared a one-day series against top-ranked side and pre-tournament favourites England 2-2 at home earlier this year before losing the final of a tri-series to Bangladesh in Ireland.
Teams:
West Indies (From): Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope(w), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder(c), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel, Fabian Allen, Nicholas Pooran
Pakistan (From): Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Sohail
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar
Comments
SHARE