Sarfraz was named Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 46

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed led by example with the bat as he smashed an unbeaten 46, while Sohail Tanvir claimed three wickets to not only lead their side to a 16-run win over the West Indies in Dubai, but also take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Opting to bowl first, the West Indies struck early as Samuel Badree clean bowled Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan for just two runs.

Khalid Latif and Babar Azam made up for the early loss of Sharjeel with a 54-run partnership before Azam was dismissed by West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite for 19.

Latif went on to make 40 off 36 balls, which included three boundaries and a six, before he was run out by Evin Lewis.

Sarfraz and Shoaib Malik gave Pakistan a major boost in the latter part of their innings as they put together a 69-run partnership before Dwayne Bravo provided the breakthrough for the West Indies by taking out Malik for 37.

Sarfraz, though, ended up making 46 not out, which came of 32 deliveries and included five boundaries, to lead Pakistan to 160/4 off their 20 overs.

Badree, Bravo and Brathwaite picked up three wickets apiece.

Chasing 161 to win, the West Indies found themselves in all sorts of trouble early on as Tanvir and Imad Wasim ripped through their top order to leave them reeling at 19/3 in the sixth over.

Just when the tourists seemed to be on the verge of rebuilding their innings, they were dealt another blow as Bravo was cleaned up by Mohammad Nawaz for 18.

A 37-run partnership between Andre Fletcher and Kieron Pollard stemmed the bleeding temporarily, but when Fletcher was clean bowled by Hasan Ali for 29, the West Indies endured another collapse as Pollard and Nicolas Pooran followed in quick succession.

Brathwaite wasn’t able to come up with the goods to save his side as he only made eight runs before falling victim to Hasan.

West Indies spinner Sunil Narine gave Pakistan a slight scare with his valiant effort towards the end of the match, but in the end, his gutsy 17-ball 30 was not enough to see his side over the finish line.

Tanvir and Hasan took three wickets apiece, while Wasim, Nawaz and Wahab Riaz claimed one wicket each.

Tanvir finished with figures of 3-13 off his four overs

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Brathwaite was gutted to be on the losing end once again, and said: “We didn’t come to the party as we liked to. It is what it is. In hindsight, 150 may have been manageable. If we had batted better in the first six-seven overs. [What went wrong?] We just didn’t turn up with the bat. As a result, Pakistan are series-winners. It is frustrating. We didn’t come to the party with the bat and as a result we lost.”

Sarfraz, who was named Man of the Match, was thrilled to have won the series, and said: “The conditions were tough because of the dew. The ball was slipping, but we finished it well. Latif has batted well, Imad and Nawaz impressed. I promoted myself and played positively. Credit goes to Malik for finishing the innings. It is a great sign for Pakistan cricket. Umar’s celebration was nice.”