Ruthless West Indies crush Pakistan as Matthews scores second ODI ton

Pakistan made two changes for this must-win clash. Wicket-keeper Sidra Nawaz was replaced by debutant Ayesha Naseem. Rameen Shamim was added to the playing XI after an impressive performance in the One Dayers for Pakistan A. West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor was rested and was replaced by Henry; Mohammed took over captaincy duties.

Mohammed won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first. Disciplined bowling by Shamilia Connell and Shakera Selman forced the sedate start from the Pakistani openers. Muneeba Ali was able to rotate the strike, but Ayesha Zafar looked helpless against opening bowlers. She was eventually bowled by Selman on the final ball of the powerplay after scoring only 10 runs.

Pakistan’s struggling captain Javeria Khan joined Ali at the crease in the 11th over. But, she could do nothing as Henry’s perfect delivery castled Ali in the 14th over. Henry’s next over added worries to Pakistan’s situation as Khan herself lost her composure as she tried to hit a short ball over backward point but misjudged it completely. Deandra Dottin took a simple catch, and Pakistan were three for 56 in the 16th over.

Omaima Sohail found a partner in Nida Dar as they started the rebuilding of Pakistani innings. Sohail being the aggressor, scored seven boundaries to get to her maiden international half-century. Two batters shared a partnership of 87 runs, which is Pakistan’s third-highest ODI partnership against West Indies. The joy was short-lived as Dar became a victim of a brilliant one-handed catch by Henry at short midwicket.

Sohail followed the suit as she was dismissed by smart stumping by Kycia Knight off Mohammed in the 38th over. After her wicket, Pakistan lost five wickets in the next 11 overs and managed to add only 29 runs to the total. Henry came back to clean up the tail and Pakistan’s innings was concluded on 182 all out.

Chasing 183 to a series victory, the first at home since October 2017, West Indies started aggressively. Openers Matthews and Kyshona Knight put pressure back on Pakistan’s bowlers and captain as they amassed 46 runs without losing a wicket in the first powerplay. Matthews took charge of the chase and dismissed every bad ball for the boundary. Their partnership of 56 runs off just 67 balls was broken when Anam Amin trapped Kyshona for a simple LBW decision.

Brittany Cooper, who was moved up the batting order, watched from the other end as Matthews was hitting helpless Pakistani bowlers all over the park. Matthews brought up her second ODI century in the 40th over by masterfully running between wickets as she was doing the entire innings. With that, she became only the second West Indies player to score a century in a chase after Stefanie Taylor.

Matthews was ably supported by Cooper, who scored 45 runs and shared a massive partnership of 106 runs which dismantled any hopes of making a comeback in the match for Pakistan. She got out in the 36th over but that wicket was too little too late for Pakistan. Chedean Nation hit winning runs in the 41st over to seal the five-match series 3-0.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 182 all out in 49 overs (Omaima Sohail 62, Muneeba Ali 25; Anisa Mohammed 3/25) lost to West Indies 183/2 in 40.1 overs (Hayley Matthews 100*, Britney Cooper 45; Anam Amin 1/35) by 8 wickets.