Pakistanis Look to Finish Strong Against West Indies

Providence: Pakistan will be looking to give unshakeable proof that the West Indies were fortunate to gain a victory in their ODI series, when the final match is contested on Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium.

The Pakistanis were upstaged by rain and a blistering innings from Lendl Simmons to lose the previous match last Monday at Kensington Oval by one run under the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

The visitors have an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series, following victories in the first three matches, but they will want to sign-off with a strong performance to knock West Indies back down a few notches, particularly with the two-Test series looming.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that though the conditions they contested the previous match were difficult, his side should have still performed much better.

"We started on a difficult pitch, but the way Mohammad Hafeez batted, we thought we would have scored 270 to 275," he said.

"But I think we missed that chance, and we did not bat well in the end. It was disappointing because we missed an opportunity to score a big total, and we have to do much better, and show more consistency in the future."

Afridi said though the Pakistanis wanted to give some of the less experienced players an opportunity to play, he still felt that they were good enough to help the side finish the series on top.

"I am pretty happy with our boys, and the way they have played in this series, so I think we can be proud," he said.

West Indies Darren Sammy was relieved to get a victory over a Test-playing nation other than Bangladesh for the first time in two years, but he is looking forward to the final match, and hoped there are no interruptions to prove that the hosts are the genuine article.

"It has been a long time since we have beaten a top side, but we took the opportunity, and came through in the end," he said.


As always, the two teams will keep their gazes fixed to the skies to see if the weather will allow them to achieve their goals. The forecast for Thursday indicated scattered thunderstorms with a 60 percent chance of rain.

But the Guyana National Stadium, a gift from India to the Guyanese people, boasts a hi-tech drainage system under the surface. Like many of the international grounds in the Caribbean now, it was installed when the facility was constructed ahead of the 2007 World Cup, which was staged in the region.

Teams from

West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Anthony Martin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Hammad Azman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Salman (wk), Sadaf Hussain, Saeed Ajmal, Tanveer Ahmed, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Akmal, Usman Salahuddin, Wahab Riaz

Pitch and conditions
After a relatively brisk deck in Barbados, the Providence wicket promises to be slower and lower, which may tempt both teams to bulk out their spin options. Matches in Guyana rarely pass without some interference from the weather, so the Duckworth-Lewis charts will be close at hand once again.

Stats and trivia

• Misbah-ul-Haq finally has a series average after being dismissed for 5 at Barbados. Prior to that he had made scores of 73 not out, 43 not out, and 62 not out, for an overall tally of 183 runs in four innings.
• This will be the 11th ODI at the Providence stadium, although West Indies have only featured in five of the previous ten, and won just twice, against England in 2009 and Zimbabwe in 2010.
• Pakistan have never won more than three matches in a one-day series against West Indies

Match facts
Thursday May 5, 2011
Start time 9:30 local (1330 GMT)