NOTTINGHAM: West Indian fast bowler Oshane Thomas with his phenomenal 4-27 spell scripted a shambolic collapse of Pakistan as he sent the Champions Trophy winner packing on 105.
The Sarfraz men played only 21.4 overs of the innings as Jason Holder picked three wickets, Andre Russel took two and Sheldon Cottrell bagged one wicket.
Pakistan lost its top order in a brief span in their opening World Cup 2019 game against West Indies at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Friday.
All-rounder Andre Russell exposed Pakistan´s fragile batting with two wickets in the space of 12 balls to give West Indies an early advantage. The 31-year-old right arm paceman bowled opener Fakhar Zaman for 22 in his first over and then had Haris Sohail caught behind off a sharp rising delivery for eight.
Pakistan were struggling at 45 for three after the 10-over power-play.
The in-form batsman Babar Azam (22) was the next man to be dismissed as he was caught behind on the ball of Oshane Thomas. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and Imad Wasim were dismissed by Jason Holder in an over.
Fast bowler Mohammad Amir is making his World Cup debut for Pakistan. He missed the 2011 and 2015 World Cups due to a five-year spot-fixing ban.
Imam-ul-Haq was the first batsman to be dismissed, caught behind the wicket by Shai Hope for two off the bowling of left-armer Sheldon Cottrell.
Russell then struck twice before Babar Azam (22) was caught by Hope off paceman Oshane Thomas to leave Pakistan struggling at 62-4 in the 14th over.
Andre Russel also picked up the wicket of Haris Sohail who was caught by Shai Hope after scoring 8 runs in 11 deliveries. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (8) was the next man to leave after giving an edge to Holder ball.
West Indies won the toss and elected to field first in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 match against Pakistan.
The in-form batsman Babar Azam was the next to depart after getting dismissed on 22 off 33 balls, by Oshane Thomas.
Pakistan included Haris Sohail in the 11-member squad, while Asif Ali has been left out.
Speaking after the toss, Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said his team needed to survive the first few overs, adding that the pitch looked good for batting.
“We will try to post good runs on the board and then defend them,” said Sarfaraz.
“Our bowling seems more balanced after the inclusion of experienced bowlers like Amir and Wahab,” the Pakistani skipper added.
West Indies captain Jason Holder stressed that his side would try to wickets at regular intervals to limit Pakistan’s score.
Trent Bridge has witnessed some high scoring games in the recent past. The boundaries are short here and the pitch is usually flat. It gets difficult for teams to defend totals here that’s why usually captains prefer to field first here in Nottingham.
Squads:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran(w), Andre Russell, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
