A comprehensive victory

December 19, 2021

Hosts Pakistan comfortably outclassed an inexperienced West Indies team in all departments of the game

A comprehensive victory

Pakistan whitewashed West Indies in the three-match T20I series while the ODI series between the two teams that was scheduled from December 18 had to be postponed till June 2022 due to several coronavirus cases in the visiting team.The Greenshirts won the Twenty20 series quite convincingly. They outclassed the inexperienced West Indies team in all departments of the game. Pakistan won the first match by 63 runs, second by nine runs and the third by seven wickets.

In the absence of senior players like Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer and Fabian Allen the West Indies team looked an ordinary side.

Before the T20I series, Covid ruled out Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers.

The series against Pakistan was a tough task for Justin Greaves, Shamarh Brooks, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and allrounders Odean Smith and Dominic Drakes who were selected for the first time.

West Indies cricket team went in more trouble when before the third T20I three more players, wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, and allrounder Justin Greaves, also tested positive for Covid-19.

In 2021, Pakistan played 29 Twenty20 Internationals, most by any team. Bangladesh were behind them with 27 matches. The Greenshirts won a record 19 matches.

Pakistan have won 11 out of their last 12 T20Is and six out of their last seven bilateral T20I series.

During the third T20I in-form batsman Mohammad Rizwan became the first batsman in the history of Twenty20 cricket to score 2000 runs in a calendar year. He finished the year 2021 with 2039 runs. During the year he scored one hundred and 18 half-centuries. Before this year, Mohammad Rizwan had scored only 313 T20I runs in 26 matches, with one fifty-plus score.

He got the reward of his consistent performance as English county Sussex signed him for the 2022 season.

Skipper Babar Azam was behind him with 1779 runs. With a half century in the third T20I Babar Azam became the first player who scored 20 fifties in overall T20 cricket in a calendar year.

Babar and Rizwan with their 153-run opening partnership in the last T20I became the first pair in T20Is to provide six century stands. Babar and Rizwan scored 1647 together.

In the third T20I against West Indies, Pakistan recorded their highest successful run chase -- of 208 -- in T20Is.

Babar, despite a fluent half century in the final T20I, dropped to number three position with 789 points in the ICC T20 batsmen rankings after 0 and 7 runs in the first two T20Is. England's Dawid Malan is back on top spot with 805 points while South African batsman Aiden Markram is second with 796 points.

Rizwan was the most successful batsman of the T20I series with 203 runs, averaging 67.66, and a strike rate of 159.84.

He also received Man-of-the-Match in the third T20I and Man-of-the-Series awards.

For West Indies, Brandon King scored 111 runs with the average of 37 and a high strike rate of 168.18. He also scored a fifty in the third T20I.

On the bowling side, young allrounder Mohammad Wasim took 8 wickets in the series with the average of 15.37. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Odean Smith took 4 wickets each, averaging 15.25 and 28.50, respectively.


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A comprehensive victory