December 14, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1427

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MULTAN, Dec 13: A superb 141-run partnership for the third wicket between Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided the West Indies to a crushing seven-wicket win against Pakistan in the fourth One-day International at the Multan Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.

Samuels remained unbeaten as he recorded his second one-day century (100) off just 99 balls, striking 17 fours and one six while Chanderpaul, playing his first match of the current series, made 60 off 82 deliveries, including eight fours as the visitors raced to 212-3 in only 34.5 overs while chasing 210.

The win also helped the West Indies, who desperately needed a victory on the ongoing tour, make it 2-1 and keep their hopes alive for equalising the series in the fifth and final one-dayer in Karachi on Saturday.

A win in Multan could have given the home team an unbeatable 3-0 lead. The first match in Rawalpindi was washed out while Pakistan won the Faisalabad and Lahore games.

The West Indies opening batsmen took a shaky start as paceman Rana Naved-ul-Hasan struck two early blows to restrict the tourists to 11-2 in the third over. Naved clean bowled dangerous Chris Gayle, who played a yorker-length delivery within the crease and saw his off stump stumbled. The very next delivery saw new man Lendl Simmons, who had a good knock at Lahore, trapped his leg before wicket by a very accurate Naved as the West Indies descended to 11-2.

But Chanderpaul, recovered from a strained left knee injury, joined Samuels to build the innings.

At 152-2, Mohammad Sami, also playing his first match of the series, broke the partnership, dismissing Chanderpaul (60), who had by then notched his 43rd half-century, caught by Faisal Iqbal at long leg. Sami conceded 37 runs off his seven overs for this lone scalp.

But Samuels, the Man-of-the-Match, remained at the crease and with his skipper Brian Lara, completed his century while reaching the victory target.

Lara gave Samuels full chance to complete his ton as when the right-handed batsman needed just eight runs to attain the three-figure mark the target was only 16 runs away. Lara remained undefeated on 13 as the Pakistanis gave 30 runs as extras, including 12 wides and seven no balls.

Rao Iftikhar, who proved very costly (56 runs off 5.5 overs), was treated harshly by Samuels who took 21 runs (4, 3, 3, 1, 6, 4) in his second over.

Samuels also punished Abdul Razzaq, who was leading Pakistan in place of injured Inzamam-ul-Haq, cracking three boundaries in the 30th over of the innings.

Earlier, electing to bat first, Pakistan reached a modest 209 before being dismissed in 49.5 overs, mainly due to fine display from Yasir Hameed (71) who single-handedly saved his team, playing without big guns Inzamam, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, from complete collapse.

Soon Pakistan were trailing at 47-4 on a pitch, predicted as batsman-friendly by Inzamam and the West Indies coach Bennett King in the official press conference on Tuesday.

Razzaq needlessly changed the opening pair of Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hafeez, who had gained some confidence. Imran was sent to open the innings with new partner, Shahid Afridi, who was suddenly recalled by the selectors. But Afridi (1) disappointed everyone, as he was clean bowled while playing medium-pacer Daren Powell with a cross bat. Afridi, who had lost his place for the series, for his sluggish performance this year – 114 runs in 17 matches – failed to cash in on the opportunity.

Imran (13), yet to remove his weaknesses in hitting the shot in the slip-gully area, perfectly, provided Powell with his second wicket, as Gayle held a spectacular one-handed catch in the gully region.

Medium-pacer Dwayne Smith compounded Pakistan problems removing Hafeez (1) caught by Gayle at second slip with the total on 45 and then trapped out-of-form Shoaib Malik leg before wicket for a duck with the addition of only two runs, making Pakistan 47-4 by the 17th over.

Then Yasir with Faisal Iqbal, appearing for the first time in the series, started the rescue operation as the pair added 62 for the fifth wicket while Pakistan looked relatively stable at 109-4 in the 32nd over. But both went one after another, reducing their team to 141-6 by the 41st over.

Powell returned career best figures when he sent Faisal back, caught by Dave Mohammed, who took a good catch at deep mid-wicket, for a 48-ball 30 laced with three fours.

At 141-5, top-scorer Yasir was also removed, caught by Powell off Mohammed for a 118-ball knock, studded with three boundaries. Yasir completed his 11th half-century off 92 balls.

Kamran Akmal was run out at 153-7, reducing chances for a fighting total. However, Razzaq (33 off 46 balls) and Naved (18 off 13 balls) helped Pakistan cross the 200-run mark. Smith captured two wickets for 29.

Both the teams made a number of changes. Pakistan brought in Yasir, Afridi, Faisal and Sami in place of Inzamam, Yousuf, and the rested pair of Umar Gul and Abdur Rehman. West Indies brought in Chanderpaul, Powell and Mohammed, while leaving out Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor and Daren Ganga.

 

Scoreboard
PAKISTAN:
Imran Farhat c Gayle b Powell	13
Shahid Afridi b Powell	1
Yasir Hameed c Powell b Mohammed	71
Mohammad Hafeez c Gayle b Smith	1
Shoaib Malik lbw b Smith	0
Faisal Iqbal c Mohammed b Powell	30
Abdul Razzaq c Gayle b Bradshaw	33
Kamran Akmal run out	11
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan run out	18
Mohammad Sami c Smith b Samuels	2
Rao Iftikhar not out	7
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-16, NB-5)	22
TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs)	209
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-33, 3-45, 4-47, 5-109, 6-141, 7-154, 8-199, 9-201.
BOWLING: Bradshaw 10-0-43-1 (2nb, 2w); Powell 10-1-33-3 (4w); Smith 10-1-29-2 (1nb, 2w); Simmons 1-0-9-0 (2nb); Mohammed 10-0-41-1; Samuels 8.5-0-53-1 (4w).
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle b Rana Naved	9
S. Chanderpaul c Faisal b Sami	60
L.M.P. Simmons b Rana Naved	0
M.N. Samuels not out	100
B.C. Lara not out	13
EXTRAS (LB-11, W-12 NB-7)	30
TOTAL (for three wkts, 34.5 overs)	212
FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-11, 3-152.
DID NOT BAT: R.S. Morton, D.R. Smith, D. Ramdin, D. Mohammed, I.D.R. Bradshaw, D.B. Powell.
BOWLING: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 6-1-18-2 (1nb, 5w); Mohammad Sami 7-0-37-1 (3nb, 5w); Rao Iftikhar 5.5-0-56-0; Shahid Afridi 2-0-13-0; Abdul Razzaq 6-0-51-0 (3nb, 2w); Mohammad Hafeez 5-0-12-0; Shoaib Malik 3-0-14-0.
RESULT: West Indies won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: Zameer Haider (Pakistan) and N.J. Llong (England).
TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin (Pakistan).
MATCH REFEREE: A.G. Hurst (Australia).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Marlon Samuels.
FIRST MATCH: Rawalpindi, match abandoned.
SECOND MATCH: Faisalabad, Pakistan won by two wickets.
THIRD MATCH: Lahore, Pakistan won by seven wickets.
FIFTH MATCH: At Karachi on Saturday.

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