Lauderhill, Aug 3 (IANS) Jason Holder’s all-round heroics helped West Indies edge out Pakistan in a last-ball thriller as the hosts overhauled the 134-run target with two wickets in the bag here at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill on Sunday (IST).
The series finale will be played on Monday at the same venue with the first ball expected to be bowled at 8pm local time.
West Indies required 36 runs off the last three overs as Sufyan Moqim bowled a two-wicket 17th over giving away just three runs bringing Romario Shepherd (15, 11b, 2x4s, 1×6) and Holder (16 not out, 10b, 1×4, 1×6) to the crease.
In the subsequent over the duo collected 12 runs including Holder clubbing a six off Shaheen on the last ball of the over. The penultimate over saw Shepherd hitting back-to-back boundaries bringing the equation down to eight required off six balls.
After Holder took a single off the first ball, Shaheen pinned Shepherd leg-before on the second delivery ending the 26-run stand before giving three of the next three balls as hosts required four runs off the last.
A wide followed by a boundary hit by Holder towards the backward square took West Indies to their first T20I triumph after six straight losses.
West Indies were 52-3 at the halfway mark before their top-scorer Gudakesh Motie (28, 20b, 1×4, 2x6s) walked out to bat after Shai Hope’s (21, 30b, 2x4s) departure in the 11th over. The next four overs only yielded 24 runs and a wicket before Motie ransacked 16 runs off Hasan Ali’s 16th over.
West Indies’ chase began with Nawaz dismissing the opening duo with just 26 runs on the board, Saim Ayub removed Sherfane Rutherford for an 11-ball nine reducing the hosts to 41-3 in 7.3 overs.
For Pakistan, Nawaz returned economical figures of 4-0-14-3 and Saim bagged 2-20 in his four overs. Shaheen and Sufyan picked up one wicket each.
Earlier, Pakistan slipped to 21-3 after opting to bat first with Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Mohammad Haris departing for single-digit figures. Skipper Salman Ali Agha (38, 33b, 3x4s, 1×6) and Fakhar Zaman (20, 19b, 2x4s) stitched a 32-run fourth-wicket stand before the latter fell to Roston Chase.
No.6 batter Hasan Nawaz, who walked in with Pakistan 53-4, smashed four sixes and a four during his 23-ball stay to fetch 40 runs while also gathering 60 runs for the fifth wicket off 39 balls.
Following Hasan’s departure in the 16th over, Pakistan could only manage 20 more runs posting 133-9 in the allotted 20 overs. Holder was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-19, while Motie dismissed two batters.
Brief score:
Pakistan 133-9 in 20 overs (Hasan Nawaz 40, Salman Ali Agha 38, Fakhar Zaman 20; Jason Holder 4-19, Gudakesh Motie 2-39) lost to West Indies 135-8 in 20 overs (Gudakesh Motie 28, Shai Hope 21, Jason Holder 16 not out, Roston Chase 16, Romario Shepherd 15; Mohammad Nawaz 3-14, Saim Ayub 2-20)
–IANS
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