TAROUBA (Trinidad and Tobago): Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan acknowledged a dilemma over the fifth bowler and said they would take a late decision on their team combination for Tuesday’s series decider following their defeat in the second One-day International on Sunday.

Pakistan, who won the opening ODI by five wickets, posted a competitive 171-7 in 37 overs in a rain-truncated match but West Indies, chasing a revised target of 181 runs in 35 overs under the DLS method. prevailed by five wickets to draw level in the three-match series.

Pakistan’s part-time duo of Saim Ayub and Salman Agha conceded a combined 66 runs in seven wicket-less overs as West Indies cruised home.

“You could say our fifth bowler gave away too many runs but in recent years, Salman Agha and Saim Ayub have both bowled well for us,” Rizwan said after the match.

“Saim didn’t have the best day today, but he performed well in the T20Is. That’s just part of the game.”

Rizwan said they could not read the conditions and several rain interruptions did not help their cause.

“Honestly, the weather forecast has been completely different from expectations, and it’s hard to read,” he added. “We’re keeping our options open and will finalise the XI after assessing the conditions.”

West Indies chose to bowl first at Brian Lara Stadium and Hasan Nawaz again played a key role for Pakistan with 36 not out off 30 deliveries, after his unbeaten 63 in the ODI opener.

Hasan’s knock on Sunday included three sixes — two of them in what turned out to be the last over of Pakistan’s innings after more rain.

Hussain Talat got 31 off 32 balls but most Pakistan batters were much slower, including captain Mohammad Rizwan who was trapped lbw by Gudakesh Motie for a 38-ball 16.

Right-arm fast bowler Jayden Seales took 3-23 in seven overs.

Pakistan lost their opener Saim (23) and Babar Azam (0) to Seales in the ninth over with 37 runs on the board.

Rizwan tried to steer the innings with a 27-run stand with Abdullah Shafique (26) and a 24-run stand with Hussain but the West Indies kept striking at regular intervals with all three having departed with 114 runs on the board.

Salman Ali Agha fell for nine as Pakistan slid to 114-6 before Hasan Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi (11 not out) gave Pakistan a fighting total.

CHASE STARS

Roston Chase and Justin Greaves then led the charge with the bat, sharing a 77-run unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket to take the West Indies home with 10 balls to spare.

Chase’s 49 not out off 47 balls included two sixes and the winning boundary and Greaves was not out for 26 as West Indies scored 184-5 in 33.2 overs.

“I’m happy with the win. We had to come in and level the series, so very pleased,” Chase, who was named man of the match, said.

Hasan Ali (2-35) struck twice at the start of the West Indies innings, removing both the openers with just 12 runs on the board. Spinner Abrar Ahmed then removed Keacy Carty as the hosts slid to 48-3 in 12.4 overs.

Skipper Shai Hope then joined forces with Sherfane Rutherford and the latter went berserk in the 17th and 18th overs hitting three sixes and four fours against Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Ali Agha, taking 37 runs off 12 balls.

An over later, Mohammad Nawaz returned (2-17) to end the 54-run fourth-wicket stand removing both Hope (32) and Rutherford, who hit a 33-ball 45, in the 20th and 22nd overs respectively as the West Indies stumbled from 102-3 to 107-5.

Chase and Greaves weathered 29 boundary-less balls in the beginning of the partnership before two sixes from the former in the 27th over consigned Saim to 16 runs brought the equation down to 47 needed off 48.

From then on, they reaped a boundary in each of the overs except 29th to keep the run-flow intact before Chase sealed the deal by steering a delivery from Hasan Ali through cover for four and he punched the air in celebration.

“It was a tough surface to bat on, slower than we’re accustomed to,” said Hope. “Great to see our guys adapt in the middle overs. Credit to Chase and Greaves for sealing the deal. Sherfane, too, gave us impetus.”

Hasan, meanwhile, rued Pakistan’s low score.

“It was a tough day for us,” said Hasan Ali. “Our score was a bit low, if we had scored 200 or 210 runs, the result would have been different. The way Rutherford and Chase played, they outclassed us and took the match away from us.”

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Saim Ayub c Greaves b Seales 23

Abdullah Shafique c Motie b Blades 26

Babar Azam b Seales 0

Mohammad Rizwan lbw Motie 16

Hussain Talat c Hope b Chase 31

Salman Ali Agha c Hope b Joseph 9

Hasan Nawaz not out 36

Mohammad Nawaz c Motie b Seales 5

Shaheen Shah Afridi not out 11

EXTRAS (B-2, NB-1, W-11) 14

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 37 overs) 171

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-37 (Saim), 2-37 (Babar), 3-64 (Abdullah), 4-88 (Rizwan), 5-114 (Hussain), 6-114 (Salman), 7-143 (Nawaz)

DID NOT BAT: Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed

BOWLING: Seales 7-2-23-3 (1w), Blades 7-0-46-1 (4w, 1nb), Joseph 7-1-27-1 (2w), Motie 8-0-31-1 (2w), Greaves 2-0-16-0 (2w), Chase 6-0-26-1

WEST INDIES:

B. King c Rizwan b Hasan Ali 1

E. Lewis c Rizwan b Hasan Ali 7

K. Carty b Abrar 16

S. Hope st Rizwan b Nawaz 32

S. Rutherford c Abdullah b Nawaz 45

R. Chase not out 49

J. Greaves not out 26

EXTRAS (LB-8) 8

TOTAL (for five wickets, 33.2 overs) 184

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11 (King), 2-12 (Lewis), 3-48 (Carty), 4-102 (Hope), 5-107 (Rutherford)

DID NOT BAT: G. Motie, S. Joseph, J. Seales, J. Blades

BOWLING: Shaheen 6-0-35-0, Hasan Ali 6.2-1-35-2, Abrar 7-0-23-1, Nawaz 7-0-17-2, Saim 4-0-33-0, Salman 3-0-33-0

RESULT: West Indies won by 5 wickets (DLS Method)

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2025