LAUDERHILL (Florida): Jason Holder delivered a match-winning performance with both bat and ball to help West Indies snap a six-match Twenty20 International losing streak with a dramatic two-wicket win over Pakistan on Saturday, levelling the three-match series 1-1.

With West Indies needing three runs off the final ball, Holder coolly struck Shaheen Shah Afridi to the boundary, capping off a tense chase of 134 and sparking jubilant celebrations at the Central Broward Park in Lauderhill.

Earlier, the former West Indies captain produced a superb spell of 4-19, surpassing Dwayne Bravo’s record to become the leading T20I wicket-taker for West Indies with 81 scalps. His heroics with the ball had limited Pakistan to 133-9 after the tourists won the toss and opted to bat.

Hasan Nawaz led Pakistan’s innings with 40 off 23 balls, including four sixes and a four, while skipper Salman Ali Agha contributed 38 off 33. Despite a strong start in the powerplay, Pakistan faltered in the middle overs and never fully recovered. Mohammad Nawaz followed up his three-wicket haul from the first T20I with another 3-14, tightening the screws on West Indies during the chase.

On a pitch that continued to aid spin, West Indies struggled for momentum. The top and middle order crumbled to 70-5 by the 14th over, with Saim Ayub (2-20) and Nawaz applying pressure. But the hosts stayed alive thanks to a counter-attacking 28 off 20 balls from Gudakesh Motie before he was run out by Mohammad Haris in the 17th over.

Sufiyan Muqeem then removed Keacy Carty for a duck three balls later, leaving West Indies in trouble at 96-6. Holder, however, showed calm under pressure, swatting a six at the end of the 18th over and forming a crucial stand with Romario Shepherd.

Shepherd hammered a six and a four off Hasan Ali in the penultimate over to bring the equation down to eight runs off the final six balls. Shaheen removed Shepherd lbw early in the last over but Holder and Shamar Joseph held their nerve, with Holder finishing unbeaten on 16 off 10 balls.

“Told Romario when we were batting that we need four sixes. We are powerful players and knew that we could find the boundary,” said Holder, named Player of the Match. “Credit to Pakistan bowlers. They did really well. Extremely proud of our men… we haven’t done justice to our potential. We can be a lot better — consistency has definitely plagued us. For me, I’ll keep putting in my best effort.”

West Indies captain Shai Hope acknowledged the significance of the win after a torrid run of results. “Been a tough couple of weeks for us... hats off to the bowlers. The bowlers set up the game for us, restricted them to a low total. Hopefully today is the turnaround we are looking for,” he said, also noting the need to impr­ove strike rotation in the middle overs.

On the other hand, Salman lamented the batting collapse after a promising start.

“We batted well in powerplay but we couldn’t finish the game. 130 was never enough but they fought really well and I am proud of (the bowlers),” he said, praising the spin attack’s performance and eyeing continued improvement ahead of the Asia Cup.

The decider of the three-match series will be played on Monday at the same venue.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN:

Saim Ayub c Andrew b Holder 7

Sahibzada Farhan c Rutherford b Holder 3

Fakhar Zaman c Shepherd b Chase 20

Mohammad Haris c Holder b Hosein 4

Salman Ali Agha lbw Motie 38

Hassan Nawaz c&b Holder 40

Mohammad Nawaz c Joseph b Holder 2

Faheem Ashraf c&b Motie 0

Hasan Ali c Andrew b Joseph 8

Shaheen Shah Afridi not out 2

Sufiyan Muqeem not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-4) 8

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs) 133

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-9 (Saim), 2-16 (Sahibzada), 3-21 (Haris), 4-53 (Fakhar), 5-113 (Hassan), 6-117 (Salman), 7-117 (Faheem), 8-130 (Nawaz), 9-132 (Hasan Ali)

BOWLING: Hosein 4-0-16-1 (1w); Holder 4-0-19-4; Joseph 4-0-22-1; Motie 4-0-39-2 (1w); Chase 2-0-11-1 (2w); Shepherd 2-0-22-0

WEST INDIES:

A. Athanaze lbw Nawaz 2

J. Andrew c Shaheen b Nawaz 12

S. Hope c&b Nawaz 21

S. Rutherford lbw Saim 9

R. Chase c Hassan b Saim 16

G. Motie run out 28

K. Carty c Haris b Sufiyan 3

J. Holder not out 16

R. Shepherd lbw Shaheen 15

S. Joseph not out 2

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, NB-2, W-6) 11

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs) 135

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Athanaze), 2-26 (Andrew), 3-41 (Rutherford), 4-53 (Hope), 5-70 (Chase), 6-96 (Motie), 7-98 (Carty), 8-127 (Shepherd)

DID NOT BAT: A. Hosein

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-31-1 (1w); Nawaz 4-0-14-3; Hasan Ali 4-0-48-0 (3w, 1nb); Sufiyan 4-0-19-1 (1w, 1nb); Saim 4-0-20-2 (1w)

RESULT: West Indies won by two wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jason Holder

SERIES: Three-match series level 1-1

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2025