Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi achieved a historic feat during the first ODI against West Indies in Trinidad on Friday. Opting to bowl, Pakistan bundled out West Indies for 280 after Evin Lewis, Roston Chase, and skipper Shai Hope hit half-centuries. In return, Pakistan chased down the target in 48.5 overs with five wickets in hand. Shaheen took four wickets and played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s victory. With this four-wicket haul, Shaheen completed 131 wickets after playing 65 ODI matches.
Shaheen has now become the highest wicket-taker after 65 ODI matches. The second highest number of wickets after playing 65 ODIs were taken by Rashid Khan, who took 128 wickets.
Talking about the match, Hasan Nawaz hit an unbeaten 63, including a six and a clinching boundary in the second-to-last over, to help Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets in the first one-day international on Friday. Pakistan reached 284-5 with seven balls to spare after the home side scored 280 after being sent in to bat by Pakistan, which won the preceding T20 series 2-1 played in Florida. Captain Mohammad Rizwan added 53 runs for Pakistan.
“At the start, the spinners were great, but once the dew came in it got easier,” player-of-the match Nawaz told the host broadcaster.
Earlier, Evin Lewis, captain Shai Hope and Roston Chase scored half-centuries for West Indies. Shaheen Shah Afridi led the Pakistan bowlers with four wickets for 51 runs while Naseem Shah added 3-55.
“It was tough to play in conditions like this, and the toss had a big part,” Hope said. “Maybe we could’ve got more runs. Credit to our bowlers for fighting at the end. We needed to score more in the middle overs. But all in all, we’re still one step behind.”
The second match in the ODI series is scheduled for Sunday and the third and final on Tuesday, also at Brian Lara Stadium.
(With AP Inputs)
