PROVIDENCE: A fabulous knock by Jason Mohammed led the West Indies to an incredible victory against Pakistan in the first one-day international at Providence, Guyana, on Friday.

Chasing a formidable 309 for victory, the Caribbeans made heavy weather of their task in the early part of the innings. Accurate bowling by Pakistan’s pacers as well as spinners restricted them to a meagre 107 in the first 25 overs.

But then Jason Mohammed took charge, playing lusty strokes to lift the home side’s spirits. His unbeaten 91 guided the West Indies to their first-ever victory in a one-dayer while chasing in excess of 300.

Pakistan bowlers wilted under the onslaught and were unable to stanch the flow of runs in the last 10 overs.

Agencies add: Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez accelerated from a pedestrian start to pace Pakistan to a formidable 308 for five.

Amid speculation about his worth to the team, the 36-year-old contributed a top score of 88 to temporarily quell the rising tide of criticism at his position in the batting line-up.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Ahmed Shehzad b Nurse 67

Kamran Akmal c Walton b Holder 47

Mohammad Hafeez c Walton b Nurse 88

Babar Azam c Joseph b Nurse 13

Shoaib Malik c Holder b Nurse 53

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 20

Imad Wasim not out 6

EXTRAS (b-3 lb-3 nb-1 w-7) 14

TOTAL (for 5 wickets, 50 overs) 308

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-85 K. Akmal, 2-149 A. Shehzad, 3-177 B. Azam, 4-266 M. Hafeez, 5-284 S. Malik

DID NOT BAT: S. Khan, M. Amir, H. Ali, W. Riaz

BOWLING:A. Joseph 10-1-49-0, S. Gabriel 10-0-69-0 (nb-1 w-1) J. Mohammed 4-1-28- 0 J. Holder 10-0-58-1 (w-4) A. Nurse 10-0-62-4 (w-1) D. Bishoo 6-0-36-0 (w-1)

WEST INDIES

E. Lewis b Hafeez 47

C. Walton c Riaz b Amir 7

K. Powell c K. Akmal b Riaz 61

S. Hope st S. Ahmed b S. Khan 24

J. Mohammed not out 91

J. Carter c Riaz b Amir 14

J. Holder c B. Azam b S. Khan 11

A. Nurse not out 34

EXTRAS (lb-6 nb-1 w-13) 20

TOTAL (for 6 wickets, 49 overs) 309

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23 C. Walton, 2-91 E. Lewis, 3-156 K. Powell, 4-158 S. Hope, 5-228 J. Carter, 6-259 J. Holder

DID NOT BAT: D. Bishoo, S. Gabriel, A. Joseph

BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 9-0-59-2 (w-4) Hasan Ali 5-0-43-0 Mohammad Hafeez 8-0-35-1 (w-1) Shoaib Malik 6-0-24-0 (w-1) Wahab Riaz 9-0-69-1 (nb-1 w-3) Shadab Khan 9-0-52-2 Imad Wasim 3-0-21-0

UMPIRES: Simon Fry and Joel Wilson

TV UMPIRE: Ian Gould

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2017