WINDIES O60s lose to Pakistan in World Cup opener

Sep 07, 2022 Sports

Kaieteur News – After some heavy rain last Friday evening into Saturday morning that resulted in the World Cup organizers having to cancel and reschedule the first-round matches, play eventually got underway on Monday for the Windies when they faced off against Pakistan in their first encounter of the O60s World Cup. Pakistan was also one of the strongest teams in the group boasting the likes of Saghir Abbas, brother of former Pakistan test player, Zaheer Abbas.

West Indies won the toss in chilly conditions and invited Pakistan to take first strike. West Indies bowled well in the first 15 overs, restricting Pakistan to 48 runs in the first 15 overs for the loss of 1 wicket.

Richard Sieuchan

The second session yielded 3 more wickets but could have been better with a few crucial dropped catches that allowed Pakistan to add 81 runs in this session and well poised at 129 for 4.

The third session allowed Pakistan to add 87 more runs to end on a decent total of 216 all out off 44.1 overs. The West Indies fielding was a bit ragged and dropped a few more catches. Top scorers for Pakistan were Rashid with 58 off 63 deliveries and 4 boundaries, well supported by opener Baber with a well composed 37 off 52 balls with 3 boundaries, Pakhali with 36 off 51 balls and 2 boundaries and Saghir Abbas with 27 off 29 balls with a solitary 4 and one maximum. The best bowlers for WI were Harvey Mohamed 6 overs 4 wickets 23 runs: Prem Singh 3 for 30 off 8.1 overs and Tej Ramroop with 2 for 32 off 5 overs.

In reply, WI started off poorly, losing their first wicket in the second over and three wickets in the first session with a score of 58. The Pakistan team bowled several spinners taking the pace off and making scoring very difficult. The middle order failed to rotate the strike and batted too slowly leaving the lower order with too tall an order to complete the win. Boundaries were hard to come by, but our guys failed to place the balls in the gaps and get the singles and doubles. Some of our batsmen got started but failed to carry on getting out to some loose shots.

West Indies finished the game with a total score of 193 for 9 wickets in the 45 overs. Notable scores, Richard Sieuchan 50 off 79 balls (2 boundaries), Roy Singh 29 off 50 balls (2 boundaries), S. Sookram 26 off 39 balls (1 boundary) and Harvey Mohamed 26 not out off 33 balls with a solitary boundary.

Harvey Mohamed was declared the Man of the Match for the WI.