Pooran’s powerful effort in vain as Babar, Hafeez star in Pakistan win

By Brandon Corlette

Despite Vice Captain Nicholas Pooran’s unbeaten 62 from 33 balls, the West Indies failed to overhaul Pakistan’s target of 158 on a slow wicket and slipped to a seven-run loss in the second T20 International at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
Fully vaccinated fans at 40 per cent capacity, including President Dr Irfaan Ali and other Government officials, enjoyed the high-quality cricket on show with the class of Babar Azam, who stroked 51 and the power of Pooran.
During West Indies’ chase, West Indies top order failed to find momentum in the powerplay, scoring 31-2. Lewis and Guyanese boy Shimron Hetmyer tried to resurrect the innings, but couldn’t shift gears.
Hetmyer, in an attempt to keep up with the required run rate, attempted to slog Mohammad Wasim Jr but could only hear the death rattle. To make matters worse, Lewis had to retire hurt due to a cramp. The West Indies batting continued to be inconsistent with 47 dot balls in the innings.
With 74 runs required from only five overs, Pooran decided to up the tempo. He clubbed Wasim for two sixes and a boundary in the 16th over, and followed it up with a couple of boundaries off pacer Shaheen Afridi. He also had his share of the rub of the green as he eked out an inside edge off Afridi that scurried away to the fence.
In the penultimate over, Pooran proved his pyrotechnics by clubbing Hasan Ali for a six down the ground. The six also brought up his fifty in just 28 balls. West Indies required 20 in the final over, but Afridi dislodged Kieron Pollard, who made 13 from 14 balls to dent the home team further. Pooran did smash a six and a four off the last two balls of the game, but it wasn’t enough to cross the finish line.
Earlier, class acts Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam dropped anchor and laid the platform for Pakistan’s total with a stand of 67 for the second wicket. On a sluggish Providence wicket, in which the curator spoke about the par-score being 170-180, things looked difficult, especially for West Indies.
Babar looked to play back to essay the occasional cut and pull of Hayden Walsh. The duo also pinched singles and twos to take Pakistan to a position of strength. However, against the run of play, Rizwan was run out on the back of an excellent throw from Lewis.
With Pakistan at 134 for 2, rain played spoilsport for a while. And that proved to be the decisive moment of Pakistan’s innings as the visitors lost six wickets for only 23 runs after the break. Jason Holder finished with excellent figures of 4 for 26 while Bravo had 2-24. The third match of the series is set for Sunday, August 1 from 11:00h local time.