Pakistan made up for a lacklustre performance in the first ODI with a near perfect one in the second, crushing Zimbabwe by ten wickets to level the series. Opener Saim Ayub  scored the fastest ODI hundred by any Pakistani other than Shahid Afridi, bringing up three figures in 53 balls as Pakistan coasted to the target of 146 with 32 overs to spare. It finished off an all-round performance after Pakistan’s spinners put Zimbabwe on the back foot after being asked to bowl first, debutant Arbar Ahmed’s 4 for 33 the pick of the bunch as Zimbabwe were bowled out in 32.3 overs.

It was obvious Zimbabwe had fallen well below par in the first innings, but Pakistan had slumped to 60 for 6 in the first ODI, and knew there was a job to be done when they were set a target, however modest. This time, though, there was no drama as the openers started brightly, and continued in the same vein. Ayub led the way, his natural aggression neutering the early threat of Blessing Muzarabani, and giving Abdullah Shafique  the space to work his way into form.

There were a couple of early jitters. Richard Ngarava drew a thick outside edge from Ayub that flew into the vacant second slip region, while an errant drive from Shafique found Sean Williams  at backward point, only for the fielder to shell it.

By now, Ayub had begun to purr. Trevor Gwandu, the first change, was greeted with two cracking shots on the off side, followed up with a four and a six in his second over. That six brought up a 32-ball half-century for Ayub, and he was still only in third gear.

There was little the spinners could do in the absence of scoreboard pressure. Legspinner Brandon Mavuta was dispatched for three successive boundaries at the start of the 14th over, and leaked 47 in the four overs he bowled.

In the first innings, Pakistan’s spinners turned in a dominant performance with the ball, skittling Zimbabwe for 145. After winning the toss and batting first, Zimbabwe made a bright start thanks to Dion Myers’  entertaining 30-ball 33, but a lack of meaningful contributions combined with discipline from Pakistan’s spinners meant Zimbabwe couldn’t get substantial partnerships going.

Tadiwanashe Marumani and Joylord Gumbie were involved in the second run-out in as many matches to break the opening stand. Abrar Ahmed, opening the bowling alongside Aamer Jamal, got sharp turn to get rid of Gumbie for his first ODI wicket before Myers and Craig Ervine began to rebuild.

Ervine was quite content to let Myers be the aggressor, and the 38 the two put together managed to get Zimbabwe back on something resembling level terms. But Salman Agha, perhaps the pick of Pakistan’s spinners on the day, trapped Myers in front and drew a nick from Ervine to peg Zimbabwe back, and from thereon, wickets fell at regular intervals.

Another rebuild, this time from Williams and Raza, was thwarted after Salman had Raza hole out into the off side to reduce Zimbabwe to 97 for 5. The lower-order collapse came when an attempted Williams reverse sweep off Ayub saw him trapped in front, and the remainder went down in a heap.

Zimbabwe lost the last five wickets for 24 runs as Abrar returned to snare his fourth, while Faisal Akram cleaned up Muzarabani to finish the innings off. It looked well under par then, and by the time Ayub was done, that couldn’t have been clearer.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 148 for 0 in 18.2 overs  (Saim Ayub 113*, Abdullah Shafique 32*) beat Zimbabwe 145 in 32.3 overs (Dion Myers 33, Sean Williams 31;  Abrar Ahmed 4-33, Salman Agha 3-26) by ten wickets

(Cricinfo)

West Indies won their first Test at home in two-and-a-half years when they beat Bangladesh in the first Test in Antigua by 201 runs. The visitors’ chase of 334 was brought to a close at 132 for 9 on the fifth morning, just an over after Alzarri Joseph struck No. 11 Shoriful Islam on the back of his shoulder. The Bangladesh physio didn’t clear Shoriful to continue his innings, thus bringing the curtains down on the game as Shoriful retired hurt.

The hosts took seven overs to wrap things up on Tuesday. Alzarri removed Hasan Mahmud for a duck, as he was caught behind to an away-going delivery, before Jaker Ali  fell lbw for 31. Jaker struck four boundaries in his 58-ball stay. Alzarri, however, continued to pepper Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam with bouncers, while the West Indies fielders also took turns in sledging the Bangladesh tailenders.

It is possible that like in the first innings, when Bangladesh had declared 181 runs behind West Indies, they decided to not continue in their second dig, fearing about their lower-order batters getting injured due to the short-ball barrage.

While the Bangladesh tail predictably folded quickly on the fifth morning, their specialist batters offered very little fight when they had started their chase on the fourth afternoon. Zakir Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Joy fell in the first four overs, as Kemar Roach got Zakir bowled off the inside edge, similar to how Zakir had got out in the first innings. Mahmudul, too, did a similar thing, getting out like he did in the first innings, as he edged to the slips after chasing a slightly wide delivery.

Roach had then removed Shahadat Hossain with a delivery that cut through the batter, kissing his gloves as he tried to get out of the way of the big inswinger. Mominul Haque, who had survived two dropped catches off Shamar Joseph, gave Roach his third wicket via a return catch. Shamar suffered two more dropped catches off his bowling, before he had Litton Das caught at fine leg.

Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz kept fighting despite his troubles against the short ball by making 45. Jayden Seales got him caught behind, with Joshua Da Silva taking an excellent catch. Seales then cleaned Taijul Islam up, before bad light stopped play on the fourth evening.

But it was West Indies’ batters who set the Test up, as the hosts declared at 450 for 9 in the first innings. Justin Greaves reached his maiden hundred during a patient 140-run eighth-wicket stand with Roach, who made his highest Test score of 47. They rescued the West Indies from 261 for 7 on the second morning. Bangladesh had somewhat recovered after Mikyle Louis and Alick Athanaze, who got out in the nineties on the first day, had also added 140 runs for the fourth wicket.

Bangladesh replied with similar watchfulness, though they neither had a big partnership nor a big individual knock. Jaker and Mominul made half-centuries, while Litton scored 40. Jaker and Taijul added 68 for the seventh wicket, and that helped the visitors avoid the follow-on.

They surprised West Indies on the fourth morning by declaring on 269 for 9, despite being behind by 181 runs. Taskin then ran through the West Indies line-up, taking career-best figures of 6 for 64, also his first five-for in Tests. Bangladesh’s bowlers provided hope by bowling West Indies out for 152, but their batters continued their year-long struggle with this Test.

Brief scores:

West Indies 450 for 9 dec (Justin Greaves 115*,  Mikylen Louis 97,  Alick Athanaze 90; Hassan Mahmud 3-87, Taskin Ahmed2-76, Mehidy HasanMiraz 2-99) and 152 (Alick Athanaze 42;  Taskin Ahmed 6-64, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-31) beat Bangladesh 269 for 9 dec (Jaker Ali 53;  Alzarri Joseph 3-69, Justin Greaves 2-34) and 132 (Mehidy Hasan Miraz 45, Kemer Roach 3-20, Jayden  Seales 3-45) by 201 runs

(Cricinfo)