Pakistan vs West Indies: Hosts complete series whitewash with impressive eight-wicket victory in 3rd T20I

Pakistan produced another imperious performance to beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final Twenty20 international in Karachi on Tuesday, completing a 3-0 clean sweep of the series.

PTI, April 04, 2018

Karachi: Pakistan produced another imperious performance to beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final Twenty20 international in Karachi on Tuesday, completing a 3-0 clean sweep of the series.

Pakistan cricket team poses with the trophy after winning the 3rd T20I in Karachi. AFP

Pakistan cricket team poses with the trophy after winning the 3rd T20I in Karachi. AFP

The West Indies fared better with the bat compared with the first two matches, reaching 153-6 in their 20 overs after winning the toss. Opener Andre Fletcher scored a 43-ball 52 – his team's only half-century on this tour.

It was not enough, however, as Pakistan got to the total comfortably, with opener Babar Azam scoring a rapid 40-ball 51.

The hosts raced to 61 in the sixth over with left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman smashing two sixes and six boundaries in his 17-ball 40.

He miscued a drive off Rayad Emrit and was caught behind, but Azam and Hussain Talat continued Pakistan's domination with a 52-run stand.

Talat finished with 31, and Asif Ali scored 25 not out as Pakistan chased down the target in 16.5 overs.

Earlier, Fletcher added an invaluable 72 runs for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels who scored a 25-ball 31 with two sixes and as many boundaries.

Denesh Ramdin cracked a fiery 18-ball 42 not out with four boundaries and three sixes -- two in the last over from Usman Shinwari -- as the West Indies scored 57 in the last five overs.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan finished with 2-27 while Mohammad Nawaz, Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf took a wicket each.

Two players made their T20 debuts on Tuesday – teenage paceman Shaheen Afridi for Pakistan and Andre McCarthy for the West Indies.

Pakistan won the first match by 143 runs and the second by 82 runs. Karachi hosted all three T20s, the first international matches in the city in nine years.

The series is the latest in a number of steps taken recently to help revive international cricket in Pakistan, which was suspended for years after a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

The victory on Tuesday also strengthened Pakistan's position at the top of the world T20 rankings, with a four-point lead over second-placed Australia.

Since Sarfraz Ahmed took over as skipper in September 2016, Pakistan have notched up series wins over England, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and a World XI side.

Published Date: April 04, 2018 | Updated Date: April 04, 2018

T20 LEAGUE POINTS TABLE

Pos. Team P W L D Pts.
1
Chennai
0 0 0 0 0
2
Delhi
0 0 0 0 0
3
Punjab
0 0 0 0 0
4
Kolkata
0 0 0 0 0
5
Mumbai
0 0 0 0 0
6
Rajasthan
0 0 0 0 0
7
Bangalore
0 0 0 0 0
8
Hyderabad
0 0 0 0 0



Rank Team Points Rating
1 India 5313 121
2 South Africa 5154 117
3 New Zealand 3886 102
4 Australia 4599 102
5 England 5029 97
6 Sri Lanka 4374 95
Rank Team Points Rating
1 India 7594 122
2 South Africa 6911 117
3 England 7496 117
4 New Zealand 7081 114
5 Australia 6376 112
6 Pakistan 4877 96
Rank Team Points Rating
1 Pakistan 3272 126
2 Australia 2513 126
3 India 4341 124
4 New Zealand 3013 116
5 West Indies 2538 115
6 England 2402 114