Pakistan aim for 2nd whitewash against feeble West Indies
A second successive whitewash is imminent as West Indies prepare to tackle Pakistan today in the third and final One Day International in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). West Indies is yet to beat Pakistan in a total of five matches since landing in the UAE more than two weeks ago and it seems an almost impossible task for the number eight ranked visitors against a number nine ranked host.
The Caribbean side has already been whitewashed in the three match T20 series and are currently down 2-0 in the three match ODI series. And their performance in either of the two ODIs have not been substantial enough to give any optimism of a possible victory in the third match.
There are only questions surrounding West Indies’ next performance. Could they come up with the answer?
The bowlers have struggled and so the batsmen. They are yet to dismiss or restrict the host while the batsmen have struggled against spin and when it is not that, it is simply irrational decisions on their part.
In previous essays there were questions pertaining to who hold the key for a possible victory, the absence of senior players, among many other questionable issues that may contribute to the team’s poor form. Since these questions seem far from being answered it is a situation of what is next for West Indies.
According to interim West Indies coach Roddy Estwick, “You still have to win, there are still ranking points to be had. You don’t want to go into the Test series losing 3-0. There are players who will play in the Test series that are playing in the ODI series so it is important that they get use to the pitch, the condition and the Pakistani bowlers as well, so there are lots to be achieve from this game.”
Indeed the West Indies players need to win to gain momentum ahead of the Test series but besides that their pride is still at stake and they need to protect that.
But it is a matter of measures to get the job done, to get a first win against Pakistan. A feat Estwick believe that could only be done if they play better than Pakistan all-round.
As it is, it looks as a sure whitewash for the lads from the Caribbean and only Pakistan could get it wrong from here. Otherwise the West Indies must be spectacular today to avoid a second whitewash on this tour.
Marlon Samuels needs support in the batting department while bowlers need to come good. Johnson Charles is having a horrid tour so far and with ‘snail like’ scorer Kraigg Braithwaite at the top of the innings, the West Indies middle have been pressured and exposed pretty early in the ODI and the trend continue to the lower order.
Young pacer Alzarri Joseph impressed on his ODI debut but he also need to restrict the flow of runs while he aims to be aggressive. Sulieman Benn consistency is also an issue as is evident judging from his performance in the first two matches. However, when a team is struggling it is hard to find form as an individual, thus the individual performance of most of the players remain poor.
Pakistan will enter today’s game feeling confident and will aim to make things easier for an automatic world cup qualification. Babar Azam has shined at the right time so have their bowlers. Their skipper Azhar Ali needs to join the party to make it a complete collective effort.
The odds is in Pakistan favour could the West Indies spoil it? Only the result at the end of today’s match could answer that question.
West Indies Squad; Jason Holder (captain), Johnson Charles, Carlos BraithwaIte, Kraigg Braithwaite, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jonathan Carter, Ashley Nurse, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph, Dinesh Ramdin, Suliemann Benn, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard.
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (capt.), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwad, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah,, Sharjeel Khan.
