Defending champions the West Indies trounced Pakistan by 84 runs on Tuesday to set up a semi-final meeting with Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20.
Led by a late charge from Dwayne Bravo (46) and skipper Darren Sammy (42 not out) the West Indies put up an impressive 166 for six after electing to bat and then shot out Pakistan for a meagre 85 in 17.5 overs.
It is the Caribbean side’s biggest victory in the Twenty20 format.
Leg-spinner Samuel Badree (3-10 in four overs) then showed why he is so highly-rated as he decimated the Pakistan top-order with a controlled effort, mixing the skidders with googlies.
Sunil Narine (3-16) too was excellent and ran through the middle and lower order as none of the top-eight Pakistan batsmen crossed 20.
Pakistan’s chase got off to a worst possible start as left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie bowled a brilliantly first up. His sharp in-swinging delivery hit Ahmed Shehzad (0) on the toe of his front-foot and umpire Ian Gould had no hesitation in adjudging him leg before.
Badree made it two-down in the next over when Shehzad’s opening partner Kamran Akmal (0) failed to reach to the pitch of the delivery as he didn’t get the elevation and Bravo took a simple catch at mid-off.
The match was as good as over when Umar Akmal (1) was tricked by Badree’s googly and Denesh Ramdin completed the stumping.
At 9 for 3 Pakistan were down in the dumps.
It only got worse when Shoaib Malik (2) stepped out only to miss a Badree delivery and Ramdin got his second stumping of the night.
At the end of the Powerplay, Pakistan were out of the match with the scoreboard reading 13 for four.
Sammy rightly bowled out Badree in one spell and he had fantastic figures of 4-0-10-3 to show for his efforts.
When Narine came in at the start of the 10th over, Pakistan skipper Hafeez was already batting in 'Test' mode, having scrapped around for 31 deliveries and scoring only 19 in the process.
His patience gave away as he tried an uncharacteristic hoick off Andre Russell and Gayle took another simple catch at cover.
It was 37 for five and Sohaib Maqsood (18) gave a slog-and-miss charge to Narine to make it 42 for six as any chances of a miracle ended then and there.
Earlier, a late blitz from Bravo and skipper Sammy gave the West Indies a healthy total.
Bravo smashed 46 off only 26 balls as he took the attack back to the Pakistan camp with his imperious hitting. He struck two fours and four huge sixes and was well-supported by skipper Darren Sammy, whose entertaining cameo of 42 was equally important as it helped West Indies reach a decent total after they were tottering at 81 for five.
Sammy struck five fours and two sixes off only 20 balls as the last three overs produced an unbelievable 59 runs.
The turning point in the West Indies’ innings was the 18th and 19th over bowled by the seasoned duo of Umar Gul (0-29) and Saeed Ajmal (0-41) that produced 45 runs in all.
For 17 overs the Pakistan bowlers looked in complete control. Then came the assault from Bravo and Sammy.
Chris Gayle (5) did not fire. The first delivery he faced from Paksitan skipper Mohammed Hafeez brought about his downfall. Hafeez bowled one wide off-stump which Gayle tried to play with minimal footwork and Kamran Akmal effected a good stumping.
Gayle's partner Dwayne Smith struck two boundaries off Hafeez but was uncomfortable against left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir's awkwardly angled deliveries. He edged one to Akmal behind stumps as the ball moved away after pitching on the off-middle line.
Lendl Simons (31) struck a few meaty blows but was not able to get the momentum going as he and out-of-form Marlon Samuels could add only 39 in 6.2 overs.
Simons struck two sixes before he was unfortunately run-out.
Samuels was once again bogged down but gave Afridi the charge to hit him down the ground for a straight six. But the veteran leg-spinner had his revenge off his very next delivery.
Afridi bowled a faster one and Samuels, who had very little room to play the cut shot, chopped one back on to the stumps.
Reeling at 67 for four in the 11 the over, it soon became 81 for five as Denesh Ramdin (5) tried to slog Babar and was caught at deep mid-wicket by Umar Akmal.
It was then left to Bravo to give the charge and he started by lifting Gul for a big six and followed it up with a pull-shot over deep mid-wicket.
Image: Samuel Badree of the West Indies is congratulated by Darren Sammy and his teammates after dismissing Pakistan's Shoaib Malik.
Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
