CWC 2019: WI vs PAK Preview – Spirited West Indies take on unpredictable Pakistan
If their warm-up match was anything to go by, West Indies arrived for the world’s biggest cricketing party in style. Their 421 against New Zealand was a fair indication of their batting prowess, almost as good as that of England. Chris Gayle teed off at the start and Shai Hope impressed with a hundred. Almost everyone in the batting order chipped in with useful runs. Their bowling too was convincing enough to bundle out New Zealand. Carlos Brathwaite with Fabian Allen ran through the Kiwi batting, handing WI a 91-run win.
Pakistan, on the other hand, had a miserable first warm-up against Afghanistan. Babar Azam led the batting with a fine century but it was all downhill after that. They couldn’t even bat their full 50 overs. 263 was a respectable total, but the Afghans chased it down rather easily with heavy contributions from the top order.
Team tactics
West Indies
Two-time world champions West Indies go into the tournament with a fresh new mindset. Their captain, 27-year old Jason Holder will be the youngest to lead a team in this year’s World Cup. With a bunch of dangerously talented batsmen and their fearless brand of cricket, he’ll be hoping to revive his team’s fortunes. As Sachin Tendulkar recently said in his interview with 100MB, ‘if they gain the momentum, they’ll be the team to beat’. Their bowling though will be a slight concern in terms of experience.
Pakistan
For Sarfaraz & co, it’s about taking one game at a time. Their unpredictability is their strongest suit but could also be their biggest weakness. With Babar in good touch, the top order looks solid as ever. Their potent pace attack will be the ‘X’ factor they need to survive in a batting-friendly competition. They will need to hold on to the key moments in every match and show enough consistency throughout.
Match info
West Indies vs Pakistan, 2nd match
Trent Bridge, Nottingham (03:00 PM IST)
Pitch for Pak Vs WI Tomorrow Looks Like a Road.Phainta From WI Batsmen Coming Up @msarosh @rasheedshakoor @PakCricket_ @PakCricFanatik #PakvWI pic.twitter.com/Fyr3D9cX7b
— Hamza Sheikh (@hamza007_) May 30, 2019
Key players
Chris Gayle (West Indies): Trent Bridge used to be known to be a bowler’s paradise, but not anymore. The first look of the pitch to be used for this contest might make batsmen lick their lips. Chris Gayle will be Pakistan’s biggest nightmare first up. The fact that West Indies have some of the most destructive batsmen following Gayle isn’t particularly good news for Pakistan.
Babar Azam (Pakistan): Arguably the best batsman in Pakistan’s batting line-up right now, Babar Azam has been in tremendous touch in the last few years. In the warm-up match as well, he struck a brilliant 101 to take his team to a decent total. More importantly, his record against the West Indies is phenomenal – 6 matches, 514 runs, average of 102.8 and 4 centuries!
Probable XI
West Indies: C Gayle, E Lewis, S Hope (wk), D Bravo, S Hetmyer, J Holder (c), A Russell, A Nurse, K Roach, S Cottrell, O Thomas
Pakistan (from the 12-man squad): Iman-ul-Haq, F Zaman, Asif Ali, B Azam, Haris Sohail, M Hafeez, S Ahmed (c & wk), I Wasim, Shadab Khan, M Amir, W Riaz
