Multan, June 10: Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam put on a century stand that saw Pakistan put up a tricky 276-run chase for the West Indies in the 2nd ODI here on Friday.
Fakhar Zaman fell early, before Imam and Babar put on their customary century stand. It was followed by a stuttering of momentum and a collapse of the middle and lower order once those two fell, leading Pakistan to stumble to 275.
Pakistan were fortunate enough to win the toss and not have to put their bowlers through another rigorous day out in the heat. Hasan Ali was finally taken out of the side, with Mohammad Wasim Jr brought in.
But at the top, it was a similar pattern for Pakistan, with a struggling Zaman falling for an unconvincing 28-ball 17 as Pakistan made a slow start in the face of accurate West Indian bowling. It was Anderson Phillip, replacing Jayden Seales in the visitors’ XI, who got the wicket after Zaman top-edged one.
Babar and Imam took over from there, steadying the innings for the next fifty runs or so before slowly moving through the gears and nudging the run rate up. They both brought up half-centuries, the sixth consecutive fifties for each of them.
For Windies, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein returned with the best figures of 3/52.
The final ten overs saw the Windies bowling at their best, putting pressure on Pakistan with clumps of dot balls. (Agencies)
