West Indies will face Pakistan in the final T20I tonight to save the series as Pakistan has taken a 1-0 lead in the series. Two games were washed out in this series.
Match Timings: Aug 03, 8:30 PM IST
Team Preview
Pakistan and West Indies will play for the final time in the T20I series. The first and third games were washed out due to rain. Pakistan showed good bowling skills in Barbados as they restricted West Indies on 82 in a 9-over game and then the game didn’t happen in the second innings. In the second game, Pakistan managed to hold the nerve and they defeated the hosts by 7 runs. West Indies bowled very well to restrict them to 157 after the Babar-Rizwan show. West Indies couldn’t survive against the spin but Pooran fought hard with his best T20I score but they didn’t cross the line.
Pakistan has a golden chance to claim a T20I series win after the South Africa series. They would look to seal the series. If the game washes out then Pakistan will take the series. Hafeez’s brilliance in spin gave them a big boost ahead of T20 WC. He bowled the finest spell of his career. Sharjeel will continue in the opening slot and Pakistan would avoid any big changes in the playing XI.
West Indies appeared in two T20I series in their home season so far and got mixed results. They lost to South Africa 3-2 but overcame Aussies 4-1. They won a home series against Sri Lanka four months back. The best thing is, their T20 players are coming together ahead of T20 WC. Lewis and Simmons are two strong options in the opening, followed by Gayle’s experience. They can try Hetmyer in middle-order. Bowling might be a concern for them as they are not consistent but West Indies have so many bowlers in their squad so they can fix out this. West Indies lost 5 T20Is in their home summer out of 11 complete games. They would also look to end this home season with a win before heading to Caribbean T20 League.
Meanwhile, Pakistan won just one game out of six in a white-ball tour to England. Pakistan still needs to come out from their reliability zone of Babar and Rizwan. Their batting unit still needs to be improved. Pakistan are again favourites. Toss will play an important role, considering weather prediction.
Pitch Report
Guyana’s surface is slightly a slower surface but it’s a decent track for T20 matches. Chasing would be a tricky call and 160 would be a strong total.
Possible XI
West Indies
Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Dwayne Bravo, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh, Akeal Hosein
Pakistan
Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Usman Qadir
Key Players
West Indies
Evin Lewis
Dwayne Bravo
Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan
Babar Azam
