Ahmed Shehzad struck a patient half-century as Pakistan cruised to a seven-wicket win over West Indies in the final fixture of a four-match T20 International series at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Sunday.
Earlier, excellent seam bowling by Pakistan limited the West Indies to 124 for eight while batting first.
Hasan Ali and Rumman Raees, replacing fellow left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir from the previous match the day before, displayed admirable accuracy and discipline, combining for three important wickets and also delivering three maiden overs.
It is the first time ever that Pakistan managed to bowl as many as there maidens in a T20 International and also the first occasion the West Indies, the reigning World T20 champions, conceded three maidens when batting in T20s.
Despite struggling to cope with the intense early afternoon heat, Ali returned the outstanding figures of two for 12 from his four overs, including two maidens. He breached the defences of Marlon Samuels and Jason Mohammed to leave the home side’s innings in ruins after they had started brightly.
Leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who suffered alongside the other bowlers as opener Evin Lewis blazed 91 in pacing the home side to a seven-wicket win in the third match to keep the series alive, also responded superbly in this critical final match.
He claimed two for 16 off his four overs, removing opener Chadwick Walton for a top score of 40 before coming back in the midst of the West Indies collapse to remove Jason Holder for a duck.
With his side tottering at 83 for seven, captain Carlos Brathwaite effected a bit of a repair job with an unbeaten 37, although a final total again under 130 left Pakistan as favourites to complete victory and take the series 3-1.