Imad Wasim’s sensational bowling performance destroyed West Indies in the first of the three Twenty20 Internationals here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
West Indies were reeling on 48 for eight in 11.3 overs when Dwayne Bravo along with Jerome Taylor rescued them and took the score to 114 in the final over but both were dismissed by left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir in five balls.
Bravo made a 54-ball 55 for his fourth half-century and Taylor scored 21as they added 66 valuable runs for a world record ninth wicket partnership. All other batsmen could not enter into the double figures.
The West Indies were bowled off the penultimate ball for 115 runs.
Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim had grabbed a career best 5-14 in his four destructive overs -- third best figures for Pakistan in all Twenty20 cricket. The previous best was four for 11, against Zimbabwe at Harare a year ago.
Left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir grabbed two for 26. He claimed both wickets in the final over.
Bravo smashed paceman Wahab Riaz for a six to reach his half-century and led the recovery from a poor start which saw the West Indies struggling at 46-5 in the first ten overs.
The second match will also be played in Dubai on Saturday while the third is in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed chose to bowl on a parched, cracked Dubai surface against West Indies in the series opener, citing concerns about the dew later in the night. They made two changes from their last T20I in England. Umar Akmal,who was the leading run-getter in the National T20 Cup, replaced wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who had played as a specialist batsman at Old Trafford earlier this month. Left-arm spinning allrounder Mohammad Nawaz, who claimed 4 for 26 to seal Karachi Blues' title win in the National T20 Cup, made his own comeback in place of fast bowler Mohammad Amir.West Indies' captain Carlos Brathwaite admitted to missing MVPs - Andre Russell and Chris Gayle - but urged the youngsters to express themselves, like he had said upon the side's arrival in the UAE. West Indies named a debutant in 20-year-old batsman Nicholas Pooran; he was returning to the scene where he had struck 143 out of West Indies Under-19s' 208 two years ago at the World Cup. Andre Fletcher, though, was listed to keep wicket.Pakistan: 1 Sharjeel Khan, 2 Khalid Latif, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Wahab RiazWest Indies: 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Andre Fletcher (wk), 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Jerome Taylor
