Hasan, Shehzad give Pakistan T20I series win

Pakistan bounced back from a defeat in the third Twenty20 International to complete a seven-wicket win over the West Indies in the fourth to take the series 3-1.

The series win over the world champion lifted Pakistan from No. 6 in the International Cricket Council T20I team rankings to No. 4, and sent the West Indies down to the sixth position. New Zealand tops the charts with 127 ratings points, followed by India (124) and South Africa (117), while England is between Pakistan and the West Indies at No. 5.

Hasan Ali, the medium pacer, bowled a tight spell and got good support from the rest of the Pakistani bowling attack to keep the West Indies to 124 for 8 at Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday (April 2). After that, Ahmed Shehzad, the opener, found form with a fifty as the visiting side wrapped up the chase in 19 overs.

Shehzad’s 45-ball 53 included six fours and one six. He put on 70 for the second wicket with Babar Azam (38), and only fell to the pace of Kesrick Williams with victory in sight.

Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, the skipper, completed the formalities, reaching 127 for 3 with little fuss.

Choosing to bat, the West Indies began at a fair click thanks to the efforts of Chadwick Walton (40 in 31 balls). However, the batsmen soon struggled in the face of excellent seam bowling.

Shadab Khan, the leg-spinner, had Walton caught and that put the brakes on the scoring.

Hasan and Rumman Raees, replacing Sohail Tanvir, his fellow left-arm seamer from the previous match, were accurate and disciplined. They combined for three important wickets and also delivered three maiden overs, a first for Pakistan in a T20I and also the first time the West Indies has conceded that many.

In fact, there were as many as 66 dot balls bowled by the visiting side.

Hasan returned figures of 2 for 12 from his four overs, including two maidens and the wickets of Marlon Samuels and Jason Mohammed, both sent back bowled. He also had one catch and a run-out against his name.

Carlos Brathwaite, the captain, lifted the side from 83 for 7 with an unbeaten 37 of 24 balls, but the weak middle-order performance had already done the damage.

Shadab finished with 2 for 16, the coach's advice to slow it down getting the results. His 10 wickets earned him the player of the series award.

The series win is Pakistan’s second in a row against the World T20 champion, and will give it a confidence boost ahead of the three-match One-Day International series in Guyana starting on Friday.