LAUDERHILL, Florida, CMC – All-rounder Jason Holder starred with both bat and ball as West Indies pulled off a sensational two-wicket victory over Pakistan off the last ball of the match to level the three-match series at one game apiece here on Saturday.
Player-of-the-Match Holder grabbed four wickets in a brilliant spell of pace bowling and was a key factor in Pakistan being restricted to 133 for nine from their 20 overs after they won the toss and elected to bat first at Broward County Stadium.
West Indies then collapsed to 98 for seven and looked set to register their seventh consecutive T20I loss, but Holder hit an unbeaten 16 from 10 balls, including the game-winning boundary off the last ball, to anchor his side to 135 for eight.
Faced with an asking run rate of just over six and a half runs an over, a straightforward victory seemed on the cards for the Windies.
However, Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz had other plans, striking with his first ball of the second over by trapping Alick Athanaze lbw for two.
Jewel Andrew hit Hasan Ali back over his head for six and looked in fine form until he top edged Nawaz in his attempt to hit him over square leg and was caught for 12 to leave the score 26 for two in the fourth over.
Off-spinner Saim Ayub then struck to remove Sherfane Rutherford for nine, and when captain Shai Hope gifted Nawaz a simple return catch as he tried to break the shackles to be out for 21 from 30 balls, West Indies were 53 for four in the 11th over.
Roston Chase then picked out long on off the bowling of Ayub to see the Windies slump to 70 for five in the 14th over.
At the end of the 15th over, the West Indies required 55 runs from 30 balls, but Gudakesh Motie hit two sixes and four fours in his knock of 28 from 20 balls to reduce that equation to 40 runs from 24 balls.
However, the Windies lost both Motie and Keacy Carty in quick succession to slip to 98 for seven in the 17th over.
The turning point of the match came in a crucial 29-run partnership off just 15 balls between Holder and Romario Shepherd.
Shepherd got off the mark by hitting Afridi for four and followed up three balls later by hitting him for a massive six over midwicket.
In the penultimate over that went for 16 runs, Shepherd clobbered Hasan Ali for a six and a four, to leave the Windies needing eight runs from the final over.
After Holder gathered a single off the first ball of the last over bowled by Afridi, Shepherd was trapped lbw off the next ball for 15 off 11 balls.
The West Indies scampered singles off the next three deliveries, and Afridi gifted them a free run and an extra delivery by bowling a wide.
With three runs required off the last ball, Holder got inside the line of a straight delivery from Afridi and clipped it past fine leg and into the boundary to spark wild celebrations.
Nawaz was Pakistan’s best bowler with 3-14, while Ayub took 2-20.
Earlier, Holder was also in the thick of things with the ball as the West Indies asserted their dominance early on.
He snared both openers, Ayub for seven and Sahibzada Farhan for three, as Pakistan slipped to 16 for two.
Holder then returned to claim the crucial wicket of top scorer Hasan Nawaz for 40 from 23 balls and also Mohammad Nawaz for two.
Hasan Nawaz and captain Salma Agha, who contributed 38 from 33 balls, were in the process of rebuilding Pakistan’s innings in a 60-run partnership after they came together with the score 53 for four in the 10th over.
Their dismissals, within four runs of each other, helped the West Indies regain control of the match, and Pakistan were restricted to a below-par total.
Holder ended with figures of 4-19, and Gudakesh Motie took 2-39. The third and final T20I will be played on Sunday.
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