Hasan and Pollard delight before rain spoils T20I

SCORECARD

With the T20I campaign reduced from five matches to four due to a fixture rejig in the West Indies-Australia ODI series, the opening match between the hosts and Pakistan only saw nine overs of play due to rain.

Showers set in just moments after the anthems were sung and continued for the next two and a half hours before play was finally possible with a nine-over-a-side match declared.

Having elected to field some three hours earlier, Pakistan kept West Indies to 85/5 from their nine overs with Hasan Ali the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/11 from his two-over allotment.

Those figures continue an impressive year for Hasan. The seamer has taken 16 wickets at 13.56 across eight T20Is in 2021 while leaking just 7.84 runs per over – form that bodes well for Pakistan going into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

Handed his maiden international cap, seam-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Wasim (1/20) impacted the match early when he struck Lendl Simmons with a short delivery on the right side of his neck in the second over. The blow, unfortunately, forced Simmons (9 off 7) to retire hurt, departing the field with his right arm in a sling.

The 19-year-old returned with the ball in the seventh over to collect his first wicket for Pakistan, having Chris Gayle caught at long-on with a slower ball. Having come out to bat in the second over, Gayle was starved of the strike, facing just seven deliveries for his seven runs.

Having lost Simmons to injury in the second over, West Indies suffered another blow in the third as Hasan struck with his first ball to have Evin Lewis (6 off 5) caught at mid-on. However, West Indies innings looked to be heading in the right direction as they picked up nine runs off Hasan's first over with eight coming through leg byes.

Nicholas Pooran helped himself to a pair of sixes off Mohammad Hafeez (1/12) in the fourth over, with the second seeing the ball lost. The change of balls brought a change of fortune for Pakistan, with Hafeez striking on his next delivery to have Pooran caught at point for 13 off 11.

Gayle and Andre Russell helped themselves to a six each but between the boundaries the runs were few and far between, with Russell departing for seven off six, caught behind off the bowling of Usman Qadir (1/6) in the sixth over and Gayle out in the seventh.

Kieron Pollard’s entry added some impetus to the innings, with the captain helping himself to nine runs off the first three deliveries from Hasan in the eighth over before the quick bit back with the dismissal of Shimron Hetmyer (5 off 5).

Pollard finished the innings with a bang, with his last ball six taking him to an unbeaten 22 off nine and setting up what looked to be an exciting chase.

Instead, the rain returned just as the hosts’ innings concluded and that was the last of the cricket we saw for the day.