Pakistan defeated a resurgent West Indies in a thrilling nine-run finish to win the second Twenty20 international in Karachi on Tuesday and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-game run. For the home team, Mohammad Rizwan scored the highest score for a second game with 38 to help Pakistan get to 172-8, before holding the West Indies at 163 in 20 overs. With the win, Pakistan gets another series with the last game on Thursday, also in Karachi.
Brendon King knocked a smooth 43-ball 67 — his first T20I half-century — with three towering sixes and six limits, but Pakistani bowlers were difficult for other batsmen to handle.
Romario Shepherd tried to stop the inevitable with a fiery 19-ball 35 unseasoned with two sixes and as many boundaries, but failed to get the required 23 from the latter.
Lanky pacemaker Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-26), fellow fast bowlers Mohammad Wasim (2-39) and Haris Rauf (2-40) and spinner Mohammad Nawaz (2-36) shared the bowling fees.
With 61 needed in the last five overs, King pacer Haris Rauf hoisted for a big six, but dropped the next ball while attempting another maximum, caught near the long-on boundary.
Nicholas Pooran (26 from as many balls) helped King add 54 for the third wicket, but Nawaz ended the partnership with Pooran and held out in the deep end.
Odean Smith hit a six and a border in his short stay of 12 before Shaheen knocked him off the first pitch of the 17th and then cleared Dominic Drakes and Hayden Walsh from consecutive deliveries.
For Pakistan, Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed (32) and Haider Ali (31) got off to a good start but failed to pull off a big hit.
Skipper Babar Azam failed again and scored only seven with a limit before he retired on a sharp single to back point.
Fakhar Zaman also flopped for a second consecutive game when he was teased for ten by spinner Akeal Hosein’s Pooran, leaving Pakistan at 38-2.
Rizwan, who hit four boundaries and knocked a six in his 30-ball, added 48 for the third wicket with Haider, but both fell to medium pacer Smith, who was the bowlers’ choice at 2-24.
Iftikhar Ahmed hit two sixes and a limit in his 19-ball knock, while Shadab Khan didn’t break out three sixes and a limit in his 12-ball 28.
Those fiery blows helped Pakistan turn 59 in the last five overs.
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Pakistan kept the same eleven from their first match, while West Indies brought in spinner Hayden Walsh for Devon Thomas.
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