Pakistan stuns T20 cricket champion West Indies with series whitewash

Saarim Damani|October 3, 2016

The International Cricket Council has Pakistan ranked No. 9 in One Day International cricket.

In a series full of sixes, Pakistan stunned the reigning T20 champion the West Indies in what was considered the match-up of the season at the United Arab Emirates.

The teams met for the first T20 series match on Sept. 23 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Known for clubbing four back-to-back sixes in last year’s championship, Carlos Brathwaite led the West Indies team. 

The Pakistan team was led by Sarfraz Ahmed, who is a wicket-keeper batsman.

On Sept. 23, Pakistan defeated West Indies by nine wickets, where Babar-Azam knocked off 55 runs on 37 balls, and helped Pakistan complete the match in just 14.2 overs. 

The Man of the Match trophy was awarded to Imad Wasim, for his fifer in his four-over-spell, a five wicket haul, with an economy of 3.5.

On Sept. 24, the teams again met for their second T20 match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

This time, Pakistan decided to bat first and they ended up scoring 160-4 in 20 overs. Khalid Latif and Shoaib Malik both added 40 and 37 runs to the total, and the skipper added 46 runs from just 32 deliveries. The skipper also brought a decent target on board to defend against the T20 Champions. 

In the second innings, West Indies managed to score 114-9 in 20 overs, but Pakistan won the match by 16 runs. Sohail Tanvir and Hasan Ali both took three wickets each, and Nawaz, Imad Wasim and Wahab Riaz added three tickets in total on the board. 

Pakistan now led the series  2-0, but still had one match.

The third match took place in Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 26. 

West Indies decided to bat, adding a total of 103-5 in 20 overs on board. Marlon Samuels managed to score 42 runs off 59 deliveries.

 Pakistani bowler Imad Wasim took three quick wickets in the beginning and left the West Indies batting line-up shaking. 

In the second innings, Pakistan chased the target in 15.1 overs and won the match in style with a six by Shoaib Malik. 

Another Man of the Match trophy went in Wasim’s bag for shattering Indies line up by taking three quick wickets. Wasim earned the Man of the Series too for taking 9 wickets in the series.

This was the first time Pakistan has completed a whitewash in the shortest format of the game. 

After a bad performance by Pakistan in the 2016 T20 World Cup, a new captain Sarfraz Ahmed was appointed on Apr. 5. With this recent series sweep, Ahmed remains unbeaten with a 100 percent winning ratio.