Image courtesy of: International Business Times

Ul-Haq and Simmons both made 75 runs

It is fairly special to witness a tie during an ODI match, but to have a tie after both the West Indies and Pakistan won one game apiece was even more spectacular as it indicated just how evenly matched these two sides are.

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo won the toss and decided to bowl first as he wanted to make the most out of the moisture on the pitch.

The West Indies pace duo of Jason Holder and Darren Sammy gave the home fans something to scream about early on as they removed Pakistan’s opening pair of Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed.

However, Misbah-ul-Haq soon took over and silenced the crowd as he looked to continue his excellent run of form with the bat.

Ul-Haq looked to be in complete control, but all-rounder Mohmmad Hafeez seemed to struggle and it came as no surprise when he was dismissed for just 14 runs.

Debutant Harris Sohail joined his captain at the crease and made an excellent first impression, scoring 26 runs before being dismissed by Kemar Roach.

By now ul-Haq had already surged past his half-century and was looking in excellent touch.

But, ul-Haq’s quest to score his maiden ODI century would have to wait as he was completely bamboozled by a peach of a delivery from Bravo on 75.

Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz gave Pakistan a huge boost towards the end of the innings and helped their side post a respectable score of 229.

Akmal scored 40 runs off 31 balls, which included six boundaries, while Riaz chipped in with 19 runs from 10 deliveries.

Holder and Bravo picked up two wickets apiece for the West Indies, while Roach and Sammy added one wicket each.

Chasing 230 to win, the West Indies were dealt early blows towards the beginning of their innings as Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles and Darren Bravo were all dismissed after scoring a few runs.

All-rounder Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons revived the West Indies innings as both players absolutely hammered the Pakistan bowling attack all over the ground.

However, just as Samuels was closing in on his half-century, his luck ran out and he was dismissed for 46 by Mohammad Irfan.

Simmons soon passed his half-century, but as he continued to put up some resistance, the other West Indian batsmen crumbled and succumbed to the pressure of run chase.

Simmons himself fell victim to the increasing pressure as he was removed for 75 runs off  86 balls, which included seven boundaries and two sixes.

With the game coming down to the wire, spinner Sunil Narine and Holder were given the difficult task of getting the West Indies across the line.

But, with 15 runs needed off the last over, Holder and Narine continued to throw their bats at everything and soon the West Indies needed three runs to win from the last ball.

However, Holder could only manage two runs and the game had finished as a tie, which meant that the series was still level at 1-1.

Junaid Khan and Saeed Ajmal both took three wickets, while Irfan picked up two and Riaz chipped in with one.

Ul-Haq was visibly disappointed at having let the game slip out of his hands, and said: “The way Holder played he took the game away. In the last over we bowled too many full deliveries. I thought 229 was a fightable total, but in the end we missed a couple of tricks. There were a lot of dot balls (in our innings), I thought we were 30 runs short.”

Bravo was frustrated with the early wickets the West Indies lost and the number of dot balls in the innings, and said: “I’m also disappointed, this was a game we were supposed to win. It should never have reached that situation, leaving it to the lower order, given the number of batsmen we have. At this level, the number of dot balls in our innings was unacceptable. We need to come up with a plan to cut down on that, back to the drawing board. All in all I was happy with our bowling, we kept them to 229, we had to expect that knock from Akmal. Sunil and Jason had no choice but to go for their shots.”

Ul-Haq and Simmons shared the Man of the Match award as both of them made 75 runs.

“The ball was gripping, not coming onto the bat,” ul-Haq said.

“Thought it was a good batting wicket,” Simmons said. “Didn’t get many big scores in the last two games. We wanted to rotate the strike. Good performance from Sunil and Jason.”