NOTTINGHAM – West Indies crushed Pakistan
by seven wickets in a one-sided World Cup match at Trent Bridge
on Friday, with the two-time champions showing they are a resurgent force in
the one-day game.
Fast bowler Oshane Thomas took four wickets as Pakistan were
bundled out for their second-lowest World Cup total of 105 in just 21.4 overs
on the second day of the competition in England and Wales.
West Indies cruised to
victory in just 13.4 overs, Chris Gayle top-scoring with 50. He reached his
half-century off 33 balls with three sixes and six fours, before he was
dismissed off the next ball he faced.
During his innings Gayle, who calls himself the ‘Universe
Boss’, broke the record for the most sixes hit in World Cup history.
He now has 40 maximums, three more than retired South
African batsman AB de Villiers.
Nicolas Pooran smashed paceman Wahab Riaz for a huge six
over the square-leg boundary to give the 1975 and 1979 world champions an ideal
start to their campaign.
“It was a good game. I think the bowlers were outstanding
today,” said Holder.
“We kept our foot on the accelerator. We’ve eased off in the
past, but it was good to see the killer instinct today.
“We wanted to be aggressive. It’s the nature of our cricket
with bat, ball and in the field.
“We’ve definitely come to win this World Cup, but I just
want us to enjoy our cricket, play fearless cricket and make the fans back home
proud.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/windiescricket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@windiescricketa seven-wicket triumph over Pakistan in their opening match of #CWC19.
The #MenInMaroon are looking good 👌 pic.twitter.com/tXzFOHm8mW
— ICC (@ICC)
The only positive for Pakistan was three wickets for
paceman Mohammad Amir on his World Cup debut after he missed the 2011 and 2015
tournaments due to a spot-fixing ban of 2010.
Amir had Shai Hope (11), Darren Bravo (0) and Gayle caught
in an incisive six-over spell, but the batsmen had not put enough runs on the
board to give the bowlers a chance.
Pakistan’s
sloppy and vulnerable batting was cruelly exposed by some short-pitched bowling
by the West Indies pacemen on a Trent
Bridge pitch famous for
big totals.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWCdebut!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 🌴🏏Well done Oshane! 🔥🔥
Special thanks to Samuel Roberts for this 😎 caricature of Oshane Thomas! #MenInMaroon #ItsOurGame pic.twitter.com/AywJinDyAs
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket)
Opener Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam were the joint
top-scorers with 22 each in an abysmal display of batting.
The only other batsmen to reach double figures were Riaz,
who scored 18, and Mohammad Hafeez (16).
Holder took three wickets and Andre Russell chipped in with
two.
Pakistan’s
lowest World Cup score was 74, made against England
at Adelaide on
the way to their only World Cup title in 1992.
Pakistan
captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said: “Very disappointed at the batting. I was very
confident before the match, batting was a key point, but we didn’t apply it to
the short ball.
“Credit to the West Indian bowlers, they bowled really well.
“We have to take time if the bowlers are bowling like that.
We lose so many wickets, and that’s why we lost the match.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19opener against Pakistan, paceman Oshane Thomas is adjudged Player of the Match. #WIvPAK #MenInMaroon pic.twitter.com/dmyUY7zQ5o
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup)