Pakistan has continued its Indian high in the warm tropical climates of the West Indies
DEFEATING the present West Indies side has become something of a ritual in international cricket for almost all teams these days. Therefore, Pakistan making a clean sweep of the One-day International (ODI) series hardly raised an eyebrow. But what surprised everybody was that Pakistan had previously never won an ODI rubber in the Caribbean.
In doing so, Pakistan became only the second country ever to ‘whitewash’ the once mighty West Indies in a limited-overs series away from home. Just a fortnight ago, South Africa went back triumphant after sweeping to a 5-0 victory.
West Indies’ latest tale of woes earned them a record nine losses on the trot — a dreadful sequence which began in the last preliminary round match of the VB Series at Perth in Australia earlier in the year. In the 1999-2000 season, West Indies lost eight successive matches.
Impregnable in their own backyard for years, West Indies had previously never suffered so many defeats in a row as they did in recent weeks against South Africa and Pakistan. In the 2000-01 season, South Africa won five consecutive one-dayers in the Caribbean.
Pakistan, in contrast, are riding the crest by maintaining the excellent winning run overseas that began after India had won the opening two ODIs of the six-match series. The green shirts have now been victorious in the last seven one-day fixtures away from home, improving upon a run of six wins against England and Bangladesh in 2001-02.
However, Pakistan still need four wins to surpass the 10-match unbeaten sequence between 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Once again Pakistan triumphed in the absence of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who according to the Pakistan Cricket Board was still not match fit and was not picked for the second tour in a row.
West Indies sprang a major surprise by leaving out Brian Lara for the Pakistan one-dayers. The official version was that Lara was being rested’ for the two-match Test series. But according to media reports, Lara was dropped after a poor one-day series against the Proteas where he averaged a disappointing 14.80.
Former Test wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs added fuel to the debate by alleging that the mercurial left-hander had been a disruptive force in the West Indian side, and the players were intimidated by his presence.
With Lara out of the way, Pakistan encountered token resistance from West Indies in the first two matches. On a sluggish Arnos Vale outfield Pakistan made a modest 192, and yet bowled so well to wrap the first ODI by 59 runs after being sent into bat by Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
In the first of double-header at the picturesque Beausejour Stadium, in Gros Islet in St Lucia, Pakistan reached 258 for eight after Inzamamul Haq made the right call at the toss.
Rana Navedul Hasan, who has made rapid progress since playing in the VB Series Down Under, made the usual breakthrough early on before Shahid Afridi took advantage of one weakness that has virtually plagued West Indians. Not for the first, the laden-footed batsmen had no answer to combat leg-spin bowling and provided the ebullient Afridi with four cheap wickets as Pakistan eased to a 40-run success.
Despite knowing that his team was terrible at chasing, Chanderpaul committed the Cardinal sin of fielding first on a batting paradise when the teams played out the inconsequential third ODI with the visitors opting to bring in three players for the first time in the series.
The result was Pakistan batsmen threw caution to the wind and ran up an impressive total of 303. Man-of-the-Series Afridi set the tone by helping himself to an explosive 56 off 30 balls. But the player who really caught the eye was Bazid Khan. Playing in place of an injured Inzamam, the 24-year-old son of ex-Test captain Majid Khan, probably enhanced his prospects for a first Test cap with a solid 66 — the highest score of the series from the Pakistan side — in only his third appearance in senior colours.
Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal did what his predecessor Moin Khan was a master at doing it — striking sixes when most needed. Kamran finished Pakistan’s innings in a flourish by smashing the military medium of left-armer Ian Bradshaw for three sixes.
Yasir Hameed ensured that he would be partnering Afridi at the top of the order in the first Test with a decent contribution during the highest opening stand of the series from either side. He also ended the match with a brilliant tumbling catch.
Younis Khan, captaining Pakistan for the first time in a full match, tuned up for his Test captaincy debut but not before West Indies threatened to challenge Pakistan score for the only time in the series, courtesy of a gallant knock from Chris Gayle.
Gayle had the satisfaction of scoring the only century of the short series, but he was so exhausted by his heroics at the crease in humid conditions, Pakistan sensed that they were not going to be denied their place in history once they saw his broad figure heading towards the pavilion.
With support no where in sight, Gayle tried to accelerate in a bid to bring down the mounting asking rate, but only managed to scoop the ball into the safe hands of Younis in the covers. Nonetheless, it was a noble effort from Gayle, whose 124 was his 11th One-day International century, as the final outcome separated the two teams by 22 runs.
