Bishoo, Simmons power Windies to victory

GROS-ISLET, St Lucia (CMC):

Davendra Bishoo bowled memorably on his debut to follow-up a purposeful 65 from Lendl Simmons and propel West Indies to a seven-run victory in their first-ever Twenty20 international against Pakistan on Thursday.

The leg-spinner continued the impressive start to his international career with four wickets for 17 runs from four overs to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, as Pakistan, chasing 151 for victory, were restricted to 143 for nine in their 20 overs at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.

Ravi Rampaul supported with three for 31 from his allotted four overs.

The victory was a morale-boosting win for Darren Sammy's side, after the build-up to the match was overshadowed by the public confrontation between former West Indies captain Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Match-changer

Simmons had struck seven fours and two sixes in 65 from 44 balls to lead West Indies to 150 for seven from their allocation of 20 overs.

Sammy then had Mohammad Hafeez caught at backward square leg for three in the second over of Pakistan's chase and Rampaul had Ahmed Shahzad caught at mid-on for 12 in the fourth over.

Bishoo then swung the match West Indies' way when he had Asad Safiq caught at short mid-on for 25 with his fourth delivery; and Misbah-ul-Haq hit wicket for a first-ball duck to leave Pakistan 49 for four.

West Indies took a firm grip on the match, when Shahid Afridi drove Bishoo to extra cover and Sammy leapt into the air to hold an overhead catch. The Pakistan captain made 12.

The home team continued to pick off wickets in the remaining overs, but Umar Akmal kept the momentum going for Pakistan with the top score of 41.

Things appeared to get a little tight when Rampaul conceded 15 from the penultimate over, to leave the visitors needing 14 from the final over.

Andre Russell kept his nerve, however, after a wide first delivery; and West Indies were able to put the tumult of the previous two days behind them.

WI on track

Earlier, Simmons and Darren Bravo got West Indies on track, when they collected 14 boundaries between them in a 99-run stand for the second.

Simmons lofted Pakistani newcomer Junaid Khan for successive boundaries to long-on in the third over and continued to pepper the boundary throughout his innings.

Bravo soon got into stride, driving Wahab Riaz over extra-cover drive and an open-faced glide off Riaz before dispatching Rehman over long-on for six.

With this pair at the crease, West Indies looked firmly in control, but Bravo was caught at long-on in the 13th over and Simmons was run out two overs later to precipitate a slide.

West Indies lost four wickets for 25 in close to five overs, but Danza Hyatt and Christopher Barnwell stemmed the fall of wickets before a boundary from Ashley Nurse in the final over helped to push the total up.

Today, the two sides start a five-match one-day international series here.

SCOREBOARD

WEST INDIES (maximum 20 overs)

A. Fletcher lbw b Abdur Rehman 1

L. Simmons run out

65D.M. Bravo c Umar Akmal b Rehman 42M. Samuels st Salman b Saeed Ajmal 4D. Hyatt c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 14+D. Sammy c wk Salman b Wahab Riaz 1C. Barnwell not out 11A. Russell c Abdur Rehman b Wahab Riaz 0A. Nurse not out 6

Extras (lb1, w4, nb1) 6

TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 150

D. Bishoo, R. Rampaul did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (+Fletcher, 1.1 overs); 2-101 (D.M. Bravo, 12.2); 3-114 (Simmons, 14.3); 4-125 (Samuels, 16.5); 5-166 (Sammy, 17.1); 6-141 (Hyatt, 18.6); 7-141 (Russell, 19.3)

Bowling: Junaid Khan 2-0-15-0; Abdur Rehman 4-0-22-0 (w1); Saeed Ajmal 4-0-35-2; Wahab Riaz 4-1-24-2 (nb1, w2);Shahid Afridi 3-0-30-0; Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-23-0

PAKISTAN (target: 151 off 20 overs)

Ahmed Shahzad c Barnwell b Rampaul

12Mohammad Hafeez c Nurse bSammy 3Asad Shafiq c Hyatt b Bishoo 25Umar Akmal c Samuels b Rampaul 41Misbah-ul-Haq hit wicket b Bishoo 0Shahid Afridi cSammy b Bishoo 12+Mohammad Salman run out (Sammy) 5Abdur Rehman b Bishoo 7Wahab Riaz cSammy b Rampaul 6Saeed Ajmal not out 21Junaid Khan not out 3Extras (b1, w1, nb6) 8

TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 143

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.4 overs); 2-20 (Ahmed Shehzad, 3.2); 3-49 (Asad Shafiq, 6.4); 4-49 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 6.5); 5-78 (Shahid Afridi, 10.6); 6-93 (+Mohammad Salman, 13.6); 7-109 (Umar Akmal, 15.4); 8-110 (Abdur Rehman, 16.1); 9-123 (Wahab Riaz, 18.2)

Bowling: Rampaul 4-0-31-3 (nb4);Sammy 3-0-26-1; Russell 4-0-28-0 (nb1, w1); Bishoo 4-0-17-4 (nb1); Barnwell 1-0-7-0; Barnwell 4-0-33-0

Result: West Indies won by seven runs

Series: West Indies win only T20I

Toss: West Indies

Man of the Match: D. Bishoo (West Indies)

Umpires: N. Malcolm, P. Nero

Match referee: J. Crowe

TV umpire: G. Brathwaite

Reserve umpire: J. Wilson.

• Leg-spinning Davendra 'enjoying' his cricket

GROS-ISLET, St Lucia (CMC):

West Indies leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo is focused on carving out a long and successful international career.

The 25-year-old Bishoo earned the Man-of-the-Match award, after taking four wickets for 17 runs from his allotted four overs, as West Indies defeated Pakis-tan by seven runs in their first-ever Twenty20 international on Thursday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.

"We set a target of 151, which we could have worked with and capitalised on it," said Bishoo. "When I came on to bowl, I just tried to contain the batsmen. I varied my pace as much as possible and it worked out.

"My self-confidence helped me a lot from the World Cup up to now. This is just the starting point of my career and I am enjoying my cricket."

'Big' wicket no big thing

Bishoo said taking the 'big' wicket of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, a feared 'big-hitter', was no big thing for him. Nor was he focused on being a bowler that gets leading batsmen out.

"Everybody is a normal cricketer and that's the way I go about thinking about it," he said. "I just back myself and do whatever I do best."

Bishoo said he was happy to have fulfilled the dying wish of his father, who had already been an inspiration to him, when he was still a very young boy.

"My dad's wish for me was always to play for the West Indies," he said. "When I was eight years old, he died.

"It was then me and my mom, no brother, no sister and it was tough growing up, but I enjoyed it. I don't just want to be a player for West Indies, I want to be one of the greatest players."

Bishoo said he was looking forward to the remainder of the Pakistan series and was determined to give of his best.

"I'm looking forward to the ODIs," he said. "Whatever I do, I go about doing it with pride. Playing for the West Indies is a great achievement for me. It was a good performance by the entire team and we enjoyed every bit of it.

"We won and it is a great feeling playing in the Caribbean and winning the first match in the home series."