ISLAMABAD: Pakistan beat the West Indies 2-1 to register yet another T20I series victory over the hosts, with the Green Shirts suffering a setback as injury ruled out left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman from the upcoming ODI series.
Pakistan put on an impressive 189/4 at the end of 20 overs after batting first in the third T20I, with opening batter Sahibzada Farhan scoring an impressive 74 runs from 53 balls while Saim Ayub made 66 from 49 balls. Hassan Nawaz scored 15 runs from seven balls.
In response, West Indies were able to score 176/6 at the end of 20 overs, falling 13 runs short of the target. Alick Athanaze scored 60 off 40 balls while Sherfane Rutherford made 51 from 35 balls to give the West Indies a chance. Sufyan Moqim returned figures of 1/20, Mohammad Nawaz 1/33 while pacer Haris Rauf finished with 1/34 from his four overs.
“Series sealed with a 13-run victory in the final T20I!” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wrote on social media platform X. “Pakistan achieve their seventh consecutive T20I series win over the West Indies.”
There was some setback for Pakistan after Zaman was ruled out of the West Indies third T20I and upcoming ODI series when he suffered a hamstring injury, the PCB said.
According to the PCB, Zaman picked up the injury during the 19th over of the second T20I against the West Indies while chasing the ball in the outfield. The board said upon medical assessment, it was determined to be a mild strain. It said the aggressive batter had been provided immediate treatment by the team’s medical staff.
“Fakhar will return to Pakistan on the evening of August 4 and will continue his rehabilitation under the supervision of the PCB medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore,” the PCB said.
Zaman has not fare impressively in the West Indies series, managing scores of 28 and 20 during the first two T20Is. The batter got off to good starts but managed to convert his innings into half-centuries or decisive knocks.
The batter is a crucial white-ball cricketer for Pakistan, who has gotten them off to dangerous starts in ODIs and T20 formats. Zaman was ruled out of this year’s Champions Trophy tournament after he suffered an oblique injury while in pursuit of a cover drive as Pakistan played against New Zealand in their opening match of the tournament.
Pakistan and the West Indies kicked off their T20I series last week. After winning the opening match against the hosts, the Green Shirts lost the second match at the last ball before winning the last encounter to take the series home 2-1.
Both teams will play a three-match ODI series starting from August 8 and ending on August 12. All three matches will take place in Trinidad.
