BRIDGETOWN: Pak­istan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and put the West Indies in to bat in the first Twenty20 International of a four-match series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday.

Thrashed 3-0 by their opponents at the start of what proved a disastrous tour of the United Arab Emirates last September, the West Indies are again relying on their most experienced T20 specialists to exact revenge.

Although without the services of opener Chris Gayle and injured all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, they still have potent weapons in batsmen Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons along with explosive all-rounders Kieron Pollard and captain Carlos Brathwaite.

Rovman Powell, an exciting young all-round talent from Jamaica, makes his T20 international debut.

Pakistan also included a debutant all-rounder in their line-up with 18-year-old Shadab Khan getting the opportunity in a team showing a number of changes since that last assignment against the West Indies.

Veteran Kamran Akmal is playing his first match in the format since the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh and will be at the top of the order in an eleven that also includes experienced batsman and spinner Mohammad Hafeez.

Teams:

West Indies: Evin Lewis, Chadwick Walton, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree, Kesrick Williams.

Pakistan: Kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali.

Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies) and Joel Wilson (West Indie).

TV umpire: Nigel Duguid (West Indies).

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2017