Pakistan complete T20 sweep against West Indies

KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Pakistan held off a desperate late surge by the West Indies to take the second and final Twenty20 international by 11 runs at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent on Sunday.

In restricting the hosts to 124 for nine in reply to their total of 135 for seven, the tourists took the series 2-0 and moved up to second in the international rankings behind Sri Lanka.

West Indies, the world T20 champions, dropped to fourth in what was yet another setback following hard on the heels of the 3-1 loss to the Pakistanis in the preceding one-day international series.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez played a key role with the ball in dismissing the dangerous but out-of-form Chris Gayle cheaply for the second time in two days.

An unbeaten 46 by man of the match Umar Akmal and 44 from opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad paced Pakistan to a total that was always going to be challenging on a slow, turning surface ideally suited to the sub-continental team.

Spinners Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree shared five wickets for the West Indies in what would prove to be an ominous precursor of the task the home side had to face in the quest to get a share of the honours.

After looking dead and buried at 17 for four though, the Caribbean side fought back through the middle of their innings thanks to a battling top score of 35 from Dwayne Bravo and an aggressive 28 from Sunil Narine.

However it was Kieron Pollard who brought the match back to life in a pivotal 17th over bowled by Zulfiqar Babar that featured spectacular hitting before the left-arm spinner effectively decided the fate of the match with two wickets in two balls.

Pollard launched two mighty sixes and drilled two fours off the first four deliveries, further enlivening an already boisterous crowd as they sensed the possibility of a miraculous victory.

But Zulfiqar held his nerve and the big-hitter's attack could not be
sustained.

He sliced a catch to deep cover and off the next delivery, Bravo also swung hopefully to be snared at wide long-off.

After his sensational debut in the first match on Saturday when he took three wickets and then hit a six to win the match off the final ball, Zulfiqar was the deserving man of the series as he also contributed useful scores of 14 and 11, both unbeaten, in the two matches.

Captain Darren Sammy heaved at Saeed Ajmal and skied a straightforward catch that was floored in a collision between the bowler and the advancing wicketkeeper Akmal.

His luck ran out three balls later when attempting again to clear the
boundary and Shahid Afridi took the catch at long-off.

Tino Best blasted a couple of sixes that still kept the West Indian
faithful hoping against hope.

But left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir, whose early burst accounted for Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels to catches at the wicket, ensured that Pakistan did not completely fall apart in the final over of the match.(AFP)