Pakistan vs West Indies: Imam-ul-Haq surpasses Gayle and Williamson with this record
Pakistan beat West Indies 3-0 in an ODI series win (via DLS method) by 53 runs in Multan on Sunday (12 June). In a 48-over match, Pakistan posted 269/9 thanks to half-centuries from Shadab Khan and Imam-ul-Haq and then restricted the visiting team to 216 runs despite Aqeel Hossain’s whirlwind 60 off 37 balls.
During his innings, Imam-ul-Haq recorded his seventh consecutive score of 50-plus in ODI cricket. He became the second Pakistan batsman after veteran Javed Miandad to achieve this feat. In fact, captain Babar Azam also had a chance to achieve this feat against the West Indies on Sunday but leg-spinner Hayden Walsh got him out for just 1 run.
Before his 62-run knock, Imam-ul-Haq had recorded scores of 56, 103, 106, 89, 65 and 72 in his last six innings. With this feat, the Pakistan opener surpassed an elite list of batsmen such as Mark Waugh, Gordon Greenidge, Andrew Jones, Mohammad Yousuf, Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Paul Stirling, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, all of whom Has six consecutive 50 scores. – Plus in ODIs. Miandad has nine consecutive 50-plus scores in ODIs, the most by any batsman in history. Two more half-centuries, and Imam-ul-Haq will equal the great batsman’s record.
In the match of 48 overs per side, Pakistan played an innings of 86 runs off 78 balls from Imam’s 62 and Shadab Khan. In reply, Windies were bundled out for 216 in 37.2 overs, with Shadab Khan scoring 4/62 and Hasan Ali scoring 2/29.
Here’s the #PAKvWI with the captain. #game is still on pic.twitter.com/O8hwqDPyu6
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 12, 2022
“We can execute the schemes and are giving 100 per cent in all departments and are there to see the results. Nawaz’s bowling was crucial in the second match and that decided the series for us. So it was the best for us in the series. We had to check the bench strength and use the seniors as well,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said during the post-match presentation.
“We are trying different combinations with bat and bowling. We will try to maintain consistency and keep testing. As shown in all three games, we have various areas of improvement. We look forward to learning from our mistakes and getting better. (On his form) I try to play positive cricket and try to play the situation. The conditions were different in each game,” Babar said.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 269/9 in 48 overs (Shadab Khan 86, Imam-ul-Haq 62; Nicholas Pooran 4/48) bt West Indies 216 in 37.2 overs (Akal Hossain 60; Shadab Khan 4/62)