The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

A couple of dreadful T20 matches to send us packing from Pakistan.



In this match, we bowled first. We took regular wickets, but Salahuddin evaded us and started scoring heavily off Alford and Hinds. Rizwan fell first ball after Shafiq was run out, but Shah batted well for his 20*, and even after Salahuddin fell, kept up the rate and led them to 150.

We thought we had a chance, but our aspirations were dealt some horrible blows early. We were 25/3 soon, and then 52/6 with all the top 6 dismissed, the top score being 16. Alford and Hinds batted really well, but left with 40 needed from 4 overs, we just couldn't start clearing the boundary regularly. We needed 20 from the final over, and while McClean got us close, a win wasn't really on at that point!

Series State	Pakistan lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Led our counter-charge, just didn't do enough.
Bowling Award	Carlos Brathwaite - Went for only 17 runs in his 4 overs at the start and death. Lovely.
Team News	Mike Alford is replaced by Kev Stoute in order to improve our bowling.

The second was almost even worse.



We were invited to bat first, and we just never really got going, somehow. Every time we thought we might get away a bit, we lost another wicket, in a good position, 67/2 after 10 overs, we lost Simmons for 40 and really lost our way. Stoute had a good go later on to get us up above 120, but we'd really faltered.

The less said about trying to defend it, the better. We needed quick wickets, and we didn't get a single one through the entire innings. Never mind. On to Zimbabwe!

Series State	Pakistan win 2-0.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - We need some more runs, but he played okay.
Bowling Award	None given - Dreadful.

As I said, to Zimbabwe we go in our final series of the year. As usual, this sort of trip should lead to 3 series victories, and with that in mind, we'll pick a couple of new young players in our squad of 18, to at least play the tour match.

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
R. Sarwan (O/BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
M. Paul (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
D. Francis (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
M. Nixon (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
J. Holder (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Not a great pool of talent out there at the moment, and as such, the only man entirely new to international cricket is Mark Nixon, a 21 year old right arm seamer. He also bats, averaging 27 in FC cricket. Edwards, Alford, McClean and Khan sit out the warm-up against Mashonaland due to being certain picks, with the team therefore being Barath, Simmons, Bravo (C), Burton, Paul, Sarwan, Francis (K), Brathwaite, Nixon, Holder and Narine. I don't believe Francis is a better keeper or batsman than Browne, but we'll keep him going for a little while.

Aside - So the Champions' Trophy has started. I don't know why, but 5th to 8th in the World Rankings (SL, Pakistan, NZ, WI) seem more likely to win than 1st to 4th (India, Australia, England, SA). Actually, India look pretty decent, but still.

[Imager36]

A regulation draw with a weak side.



We took regular wickets in the first innings, with Nixon taking 3 wickets and Narine 6. Our top order went poorly in the first innings, but Burton played very well and Sarwan did too. Shane was very good indeed, and he was very unlucky to fall 2 runs short of his 7th first class century. Sarwan's 77 not out also went well. Mashonaland fought back in the second innings, Zhuwao, Gupo, Raza and Mahlunge scored well to push the victory out of our hands. Barath was out for 4 from 32 balls, but he was the only wicket we lost.

For the actual first test, I've decided Nixon is worth a look. Sarwan's good knock doesn't get him a place in the side as we prefer youth. That leaves the side looking like this... Note that I can never decide who to open with Barath!

A. Barath

K. Edwards (C)

D. Bravo

M. Alford

S. Burton

M. Paul

M. Browne (K)

M. Nixon

I. Khan

J. Holder

K. McClean

[Imager36]

Yeah, we won. I don't take much pleasure in it.



We lost the toss, so they batted first. Soon, with both openers gone and Kidwell out for a golden duck, all to Holder, they were 19/3. Davids tried to rebuild things, but he only stopped them from being quite so broken, the score being 91/6 with the fall of his wicket for 39. Tatenda Taibu was brilliant though, the little keeper smashing 96 from 133 balls to put his side back in the game and give them a score that might be competitive. Holder got his first test five-for, and the wicket of Graeme Kirsten was Nixon's first at test level. He also got rid of Meth.

Our innings was a strange one. All of our top 6 batsmen passed 40, which I was pleased with, but only 2 of them, Alford and Paul, made it past that 50 mark ten runs later. We had an opening partnership of 111, which seems like it could be the highest in recent memory, but both of them were out for 47. Alford hit 76 in rather flowing fashion, while Paul's 72* was a little more reserved, keeping strike with the tail. The latter was his highest test score though, and his 5th 50 so far in 15 innings. Good, eh? Nixon and Khan played good foil roles to him, scoring 24 and 29 respectively, and we ended up with a rather large lead.

In their second innings, wickets just seem to fall at all the right times. McClean got Tichana early, after which he really hit his stride, getting 3 more top order wickets with his extra pace on a very uneven track. Holder got the vital wicket of Taibu, and Nixon wrapped up Waller and the tail to get his first test five-for and put us in place to win the game easily, which we did with ten wickets to spare.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Mike Alford - Should have had a century, but I couldn't argue with how the boy played.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - A very tough choice, but 5 wickets to reduce them to 91/6 really took us the match on the first morning.
Team News	Dan Francis comes in for Max Browne. I can't have him having the highest Test batting average of any playing West Indian!

Aside - Why do I always start these weird format points that die before I end them?

[Imager36]

In the end, we were glad he maintained his record...



We won the toss this time around, and our first innings wasn't dominated by anyone in particular. Our highest partnership was 59 between Barath and Bravo, but Burton played well for his 4th test 50, and that was all backed up by a lovely 47 from 66 balls from keeper Dan Francis, who led us over the 300 line from the precarious 189/5. Paul, Nixon, Khan and Holder all produced lower-order cameos to lead to this eventuality, showing the advantages of having a tail that can severely wag!

We bowled well first time round to give ourselves a decent lead. They were 33/4 at one point after McClean and Holder took a couple of wickets each to put them in disarray. Luckily for them, Kirsten and Waller put on a partnership of 147 to really rescue their innings, and keep them in contention. Thankfully for us, we dealt with the tail well, with McClean wrapping up his 7th Test five-for in only his 21st match as we kept a first innings lead.

We didn't start well again. The top order really does need addressing in this form of the game, but it's hard to know who to take out when they're all doing poorly. This time it was Alford and Paul who managed to make things respectable for the middle order, but when Alford fell and Paul was still in, the score became 120/5. Francis' job this time was more remarkable, playing and missing a couple early on but not offering too much else as he went to 88 from 165 balls, ably assisted by a gritty Mark Nixon performance of 59* from 144. Nixon took up the attack himself when Francis fell, and between he and Imran Khan we took our lead over 400.

The fourth innings did not go entirely to plan. We expected to roll them out for 200-250, but failed entirely in this, number 3 Davids carving himself a groove and batting for a mammoth 508 minutes in order to secure a draw for his side. Meth stayed with him for the best part of 3 of those hours, but an honourable mention must go to their last 3, who survived over 2 hours between them to seal the result. They were only 50-odd away from the win!

Series State	The West Indies win the series 1-0.
Batting Award	Dan Francis - Yep. I was expecting him to fail this time around. He hasn't yet.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - 6 wickets. Not too bad for our new consistent seamer.

So next up we've got 3 ODIs against the same side, as usual. Here is how the two teams line-up in the series and first match. More Nixon! More Holder!

Zimbabwe	West Indies
A. Tichana	A. Barath
K. Maunze	D. Francis (K)
B. Taylor	Darren Bravo (C)
S. Davids	S. Burton
M. Waller	R. Sarwan
T. Taibu (K)	K. Pollard
K. Meth	M. Alford
A. Manyumwa	M. Nixon
W. de Villiers	I. Khan
S. Mugava	J. Holder
T. Chatara	S. Narine
Reserves	Reserves
C. Kidwell	M. Paul
R. Chakabva	L. Simmons
D. Tripano	R. Hinds
S. Masakadza	K. McClean
G. Kirsten	-
N. Mushangwe	-
R. Muzhange	-

[Imager36]

Another regulation victory. I'll focus on us.



We lost the toss and were put into bat. Until Barath and Francis both fell early and cheaply, we didn't really have any reason to fear. After that, our fears were dispelled again, with Darren Bravo being joined by Shane Burton, and the two putting on an exquisite partnership of 168. Bravo reigned in his attacking instincts until the latter part of his innings, but Burton really showed why it is I pick him in all formats, his 109 came in 88 balls and was brilliant, with 18 fours and a six meaning he scored over 70% of his runs in boundaries! Whilst the left hander got the second ODI century of his career, when Bravo was out we struggled. Burton followed not long after, and trying to press in the last 10 overs, and utterly failed in that regard, managing only 45 runs before we were bowled out in the 49th! Sarwan made most of those in his 26*, with Pollard, Khan and Narine all getting first ballers.

The bowling was fairly regulation, with Nixon impressing especially with early wickets of Tichana, Taylor and Davids. There is no easier début tour than Zimbabwe. Next year may be when we really learn about him!

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Flowing, faultless batting. Love him.
Bowling Award	Mark Nixon - He's started well. Averages under 6 in ODI cricket for a couple of days!
Team News	We don't change. For them, Muzhange comes in for Chatara.

Aside - I missed out my aside! I really am in a bad way at the moment.

[Imager36]

Another easy victory.



We bowled first. At the start, they seemed to be getting on top of bowling a little, but when Narine came on at the end of the powerplay that changed! He bowled superbly, only 3 runs and 2 wickets coming from his first 5 overs. More came from the second 5, but he ended that spell with the very important wicket of Taylor, who had just started to get going. They did no more of that though, as the seamers came back to make the game an open and shut case.

The batting was much easier for us. Barath and Francis' opening partnership was worth almost half our total, and Bravo and Burton knocked off the rest that they could not manage. Too easy.

Series State	West Indies secure the series 2-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	None given - Had Barath not got out with the scores level, he'd have had this.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - Got 3 of their top 4 and kept runs down.
Team News	For the dead rubber we try 4 pacemen, with McClean in for Khan. Paul also comes in for Sarwan. They make no change.

Another easy win.



We bowled them out for 162 thanks to Narine and McClean, with Alford chipping in the other 2 wickets.

We were reduced to 43/3, but thankfully a partnership of 103 between the reliable Bravo and the in-and-out Paul steadied the ship, and Mike Alford took us over the line with a massive 6!

Series State	West Indies win the series 3-0.
Batting Award	Mike Paul - Scored his 51 at a strike rate of 74 and it was a welcome return for him in coloured clothing.
Bowling Award	McClean/Narine - Both equally excellent at dealing with their poor batting.
Squad News	Powell, Brathwaite and Stoute come in for Barath, Francis and McClean
Team News	Powell, Simmons, Hinds and Sarwan replace Barath, Francis, McClean and Paul. Lovely.

Aside - I've been doing a hell of a lot of acting this week. That's mainly the reason this is brief!

[Imager36]

I really do feel sorry for them.



We never let them get going, and the seamers took a wicket each early on to start that process. After that, Zimbabwe were utterly destroyed by the spinners, who took 3 wickets apiece and all but sealed us the match.

We lost Powell, Simmons and Bravo early, but some hitting from Pollard and some stoicism from Burton managed to seal us the win with a paltry 45 balls left in the tank. One more, then this torture can stop.

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - Came in when we were 21/3 and just tonked it.
Bowling Award	Ryan Hinds - Took 3/9 from 4 overs. No, I'm not joking.
Team News	No changes.

Harder, but still a victory.



I don't feel too bad for them now! They lost Tichana for a duck, but Taylor started attacking, taking 21 off the 4th over and denting us then further. Alford got Maunze, and Pollard followed that up with the crucial wicket of Taylor falling to the part-timer. Davids and Waller played well together, but when they fell the innings crumbled, and they limped over the 120 line.

Simmons came out with intent, hitting 50 from 33 balls in a delightful innings from the opener. Slow play made the match a little from won, but we only needed 3 from the last couple of overs... they took us 9 balls to get, but the win was on the cards for a long time.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - Got us well above the required rate and played very well.
Bowling Award	Holder/Alford - Both bowled well to keep us out of trouble and win us the series.

And that, rather abruptly, is the end of the 2016/17 season! Next up, Award awards and the 17/18 schedule. I'm very excited.

Aside - I'm at home now and thus have nothing to do. Except this, obviously.

[Imager36]

2016/17 Season Awards

Right, here I go again, I've made up some new awards this year because the season was short and none of the award awards make too much sense to me!

Most Capped - Mike Alford - 24 matches - I overuse the young man, but he does sometimes do wonders. His bowling in particular has been a highlight this year.

Breakthrough Player - Jason Holder - Made a comeback in the Pakistan tests, and forced his way into the limited overs sides for the Zimbabwe tour.

Most Awards - Mike Alford - 8 awards - I was expecting this award to go to Narine as it would normally, but he fell out of test favour, and with batting awards included, Alford takes the spoils! (Full list of awards attached!)2016 Awards.txt

Young Player of the Year - Mike Alford - I'd like not to give him everything, but as the top under 23, he's only 21 and his season has been superb this year.

Player of the Year - Impossible to call. No player was consistently brilliant in any format, let alone across them. We scored 2 centuries all year, so batsmen were out, and whilst Kev McClean took bags of test wickets, he was inconsistent in shorter forms!

Best Eleven - Barath, Simmons (K), Bravo (C), Burton, Paul, Alford, Sarwan, Khan, Holder, McClean, Narine.

And with that, we move to the fixture list for next season! One unhappy note is that Ryan Hinds has retired from cricket at the age of 35. His tying down of an end in limited overs cricket, along with his high class batting, will be an option I miss.

2017/18 Season Preview

7th April - 1st May - Pakistan - Home

2 Tests - Last series tied 1-1.
3 ODIs - Last series won 5-0.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

A lot to lose on these series, especially judging how badly our own tour of Pakistan went last year. A few newly blooded players though, and a bit of a clearer direction to go in for the team, and we might keep some of our points!

6th May - 14th June - England - Away

2 FC friendlies
2 Tests - Last series lost 3-0.
3 ODIs - Last series lost 2-1.
1 T20I - Last series lost 1-0.

Well at least here we have nothing to lose! Last time we were in England we even lost the tour match to Sussex, so we hope not to have a repeat of that, and maybe to grab some points in the short limited overs series.

2nd November - 5th December - New Zealand - Away

3 Tests - Last series lost 2-0.
5 ODIs - Last series won 4-1.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

This is the tour for the year we have decent hopes on. I'd like to beat New Zealand in all formats to assert that we've moved on and we're now competing in the tier of teams above them.

1st - 23rd March - Bangladesh - Home

2 Tests - Last series tied 1-1.
3 ODIs - Last series won 2-1.
2 T20Is - Last series won 2-0.

And the final series of the year against a smaller team. We were rather ashamed of losing one of the tests at home in 2014, and we hope to redress that balance by whitewashing them in March when this tour comes around.

So that's a tough start to the year, hopefully followed by a decent second half. First up we've got Pakistan here, who were rather dominant in their tour match with Guyana, though it ended in a draw. Our squad of 12 follows.

A. Barath (O)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Paul (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
D. Francis (K)
M. Nixon (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
J. Holder (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

The player to be left out, on a pitch that looks like a turner, is youngster Mark Nixon. Francis keeps his place for the time being, and Kirk Edwards opens as we continue to experiment with those berths.

[Imager36]

A disappointing second innings batting performance led to a poor result.



We won the toss and got to bat first. Edwards fell early, but Bravo and Barath both played very well to put on 179 runs together for the second wicket to put us well on top. Neither of them reached centuries, and unfortunately after that we really did crumble to Ali Mudassar. No other batsman got more than 21, and while cameos from the lower order took us over 300, we felt that this was at best a par score against a strong Pakistani batting line-up.

We started in decent fashion, Holder getting rid of 3 of the top four as the wickets fell fairly regularly to leave them 130/4. Unfortunately, Jamshed and Umar Akmal really got going, and it was only when a bouncer from McClean felled the latter that we had any reprieve at all. Even then, Rizwan came in and gave Jamshed the strike as he made it to his first test century, in his 25th match. Trust us to be on the receiving end! After Alford had him caught behind, Holder and Narine cleaned up the tail with minimal fuss.

Then we fell apart. Trailing by about 60, our opening partnership of 47 almost took us to the point we'd have been happy at, but we lost 6 wickets for 75 runs and that basically put paid to our match. Mudassar was once again our bane, with 3 of those, and Alford was the only man who stuck around. He put on a 50 partnership with Imran Khan (26), but 9, 10 and 11 fell exceptionally quickly and he was left stranded on 42.

McClean got 2 early wickets to give us a sniff, but after that they had no problems knocking off our light total. It's a shame, but we trail in the series.

Series State	Pakistan lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Adrian Barath - 126 runs in the match, played very well.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - Five-for in the first innings takes this!
Team News	No squad changes, but on a green-top, Nixon replaces Khan.

Aside - It's a shame to see New Zealand out of the CT. I've been enjoying watching them this last few months.

[Imager36]

My poor tactics prevented a series draw we deserved.



Edwards was out early, but Bravo and Barath built very well in a partnership of 80, and we thought we were sailing pretty high. Barath and Paul's partnership, worth 186, was exactly the sort of thing we are normally on the other end of, though. Barath's 185 was his 5th test century, and his highest test score of all. Paul looked set for his maiden century, but instead gave another example of a West Indian batsman failing to convert with his 6th test half century. Burton and Alford fell speedily, but Francis (22), Nixon (36) and McClean (35) made decent cameos, taking us well over 400 and putting us in charge of the match.

We were further in charge with Pakistan 62/5 in their first innings. Holder had two, Alford and McClean one each, with the other being a run out. Alam and Rizwan then put on one of those brilliant partnerships. This time it was 145 runs, Alam making 93 and Rizwan 54, before, after almost 3 hours of solid batting, Alam was caught and bowled by Narine. We wrapped up the tail at decent pace, though Bhatti (27) made a nuisance of himself and took them beyond the follow-on mark.

Our opening partnership this time was worth 76, but it was reduced to little importance when Bravo was out in the same over and Edwards. Barath continued, with Paul again, and in his 4 test innings this year, Adrian has gathered 370 runs. Paul was on form again, and got to setting a target for Pakistan. Burton and Alford again fell quickly, but Francis (23) and Nixon (24) hung around while Paul moved toward his maiden century again. They were told to get on with it, and this was Paul's demise in the end. We declared straight after that, with almost 5 sessions to bowl Pakistan out.

With them at 68/3, and the seamers again running riot, I thought we'd win fairly comfortably. Shafiq and Jamshed had other ideas with a partnership of 124, but even after this we felt we'd broken the back of their innings, with still 2 and a half sessions to bat out. Shafiq, Alam, Nadir and Jamshed fell in fairly quick succession too, and with 1 and a bit left, they were 7 down. Rizwan was to prove our bane though. Bhatti was out there for 2 hours for his 19 runs, and Rizwan kept the defense up too. Even when Bhatti fell with an hour to go we were favourites, but Tanvir managed to survive, and we felt foolish about our late declaration.

Series State	Pakistan win the series 1-0.
Batting Award	Barath/Paul - Both batted splendidly and almost won us the game.
Bowling Award	Jason Holder - Mr. Consistent now, and 6 more wickets for him.

Anyway... moving on, we have 3 ODIs against Pakistan up next. Here comes the usual 15 man squad.

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (O/K)
D. Francis (O/K)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (C)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
K. Pollard (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
L. Sebastien (ASP)
M. Nixon (SEAM)
I. Khan (SPIN)
J. Holder (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Liam Sebastian, 32 year old Off Spin bowler and lower order batsman, could make his West Indies début in the 'Hinds' role, as a containing spinner. He won't just yet though, with he, McClean, Francis and Sarwan the intial four to miss out. Before the test series, I was going to drop Barath from the ODI side for poor performance, but he'll get another series at least, being that he's in a rich vein of form at the moment.

Aside - I took victory for granted in that test. This game never fails to surprise me.

[Imager36]

A few stellar performances led to a nice win.



We put them into bat, and started well, not letting them get away against the new ball and then Nixon getting a wicket and Alford two to leave them 49/3. Salahuddin and Shafiq started to rebuild, and did so well, but Salahuddin could not keep up with the pace. They put on 123 together against the spinners, who were unusually ineffective. Holder was the first quick to return, and he got Shafiq for 71 to show it was the way to go. Nixon and Alford were both sensational in the last 10 overs, sharing around the remaining wickets and not leaving any room for easy runs as we kept them down to only just over 4 an over.

We felt we should be able to chase the runs, and a fiery start from Lendl Simmons, who hit 21 of an opening partnership worth 25, put us ahead of the rate. Barath was batting at snail's pace, and when Bravo came in he did the same. It was a testing period of bowling from Nadir and Asif that kept us behind the rate, now needing over 5 an over to win the game. Bravo fell with the score on 65/2 in the 21st over, which gives you some clue as to how slow we were being! Thankfully, when Burton came in, everything improved. Before Barath fell he'd made it to a run a ball 28, and Barath had upped his scoring rate too to put us back in position. Paul came and went for 4 from 2 balls, but Pollard (14) and Alford (20) both managed to hang around for enough time for Burton to smash us into a winning position. We only needed another 10 runs by the time Nixon came in, from 5 overs, and we got them with 18 balls to spare after Burton hit his fourth maximum to end on 82* from 77.

Series State	West Indies lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - At his best in ODIs, commanded the game from the middle order.
Bowling Award	Nixon/Alford - Both excellent at the start and death. Two real gems on our hands.
Team News	The Pakistani middle order look comfortable against spin, so Kev McClean comes in for Mr. Narine.

Stat! - Shane Burton averages 6.48 higher in ODI cricket than in Test cricket (37.84 vs. 31.36). He also has 6 more 50+ scores in only 11 more innings (7 in 46 vs. 13 in 57).

[Imager36]

I love a low scoring thriller!



Only fun when we win, of course... We lost the toss and got put into bat, and made a really solid start. Our opening partnership took almost 18 overs, but it was worth 75, and at just over 4 an over we were pleased with it on a tough track. Then the track showed it's true mettle. We lost our first four wickets for 10 runs, and with all our top 5 apart from Burton gone, we were going to find it tough from then. We tried to consolidate with Pollard, but he was soon out for 19 and last hope Alford followed very tamely. Nixon and Khan added 10 and 12 respectively, and Burton was still in but finding it hard to score. He took control when McClean came in, hitting 17 of a 22 partnership before he was dismissed with just over 5 overs left to bat.

We never thought we had anywhere near enough, and when they were 64/1 it felt like they'd probably just coast it. Then McClean and Alford had a little purple patch of 2 wickets each to put them to to 74/5 and we felt on top ourselves! Jamshed and Asif put on 43 together to make us feel nervous about the win, but I brought Alford back early and he did the damage, getting rid of Jamshed and his replacement Nadir in quick succession. Bhatti and Zaman had another revival when they were 8 down, but we got Zaman with 15 runs left to play with, and Bhatti couldn't protect Tanvir enough as he was got by Holder!

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	None given, no stand out performance.
Bowling Award	Mike Alford - 3 crucial middle order wickets and 2 decent partnerships broken. He's so good now!
Team News	With nothing riding on the last match, Sebastien makes his début in place of Khan.

Stat! - My 5 man bowling unit in the next match has played 108 ODIs between them (before this). My top 5 batsmen have played 425.

[Imager36]

When did we become better than them?!



We started at a good rate, but Barath and Simmons both fell early to limit the good work, but Bravo and Burton managed to complete a 52 partnership in order to get us right back in to the game. Unfortunately, we lost three quick wickets after that, to leave us 109/5, and despite going at a much better rate than usual, wobbling slightly. The new partnership, with Pollard and Alford at the crease, was a brisk one and was worth 116. Alford was last in and first out of the two, and made 56 from 57 balls to keep us firing. Sebastien got 17 from 12 balls, but Pollard fell for 70 from 67, the largest innings and one of his best for a while. Nixon scored 18 from 21 and was not out, trying to bat out the remainder of the overs. Holder and McClean failed, and we were left with 17 balls unused.

We'd scored a lot of runs, but we got wickets almost immediately. We reduced them to 41/4 with Mark Nixon taking 3 early wickets, and we polished off the rest of them fairly easily too. Sebastien's début didn't go exactly to plan, as he bowled 6 overs for 1/43, at over 7 runs an over. Doesn't matter, we won!

Series State	West Indies win the series 3-0.
Batting Award	Pollard/Alford - That was a fun partnership. First time we've really been in control of another side's bowling for a while.
Bowling Award	Mark Nixon - Just destroyed their top order to seal us the game.
Team News	T20s up next. I'm making that side a bit more like the ODI side. Sebastien, McClean and Sarwan in for Narine, Brathwaite and Paul.

Stat! - The man in this team with the most T20I runs and highest average is... Lendl Simmons! He beats Darren B by 202 runs and by 28.65 to 26.9. Surprising.

[Imager36]

And... turns out we weren't better than them!



They scored very heavily to start with, grabbing over 50 runs from the first 5, and we couldn't drag it back very well. Alam batted incredibly well for his 82 from 54 balls, but they lost late wickets to Brathwaite, Alford and 2 run outs. Alam stayed strong though and guided them to an over-par score, but one that still felt reachable.

Unfortunately, our chase never really got off the ground. We lost both Simmons and Bravo early, and whilst Burton started playing well in his 36, Barath was just plodding along at the other end and the run rate required was rising rather rapidly. When Sarwan came and went the game was pretty much up, and as Barath began to do what was needed, he fell too. Alford kept it interesting with a couple of sixes in the penultimate over, but ultimately, it was over.

Series State	Pakistan lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	None given.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - No wickets, but only 23 runs from his 4, showed his class.
Team News	Imran Khan replaces the young Mark Nixon.

Aside - I bloody love Luke Wright.

[CharlesDarwini]

And... turns out we weren't better than them!



They scored very heavily to start with, grabbing over 50 runs from the first 5, and we couldn't drag it back very well. Alam batted incredibly well for his 82 from 54 balls, but they lost late wickets to Brathwaite, Alford and 2 run outs. Alam stayed strong though and guided them to an over-par score, but one that still felt reachable.

Unfortunately, our chase never really got off the ground. We lost both Simmons and Bravo early, and whilst Burton started playing well in his 36, Barath was just plodding along at the other end and the run rate required was rising rather rapidly. When Sarwan came and went the game was pretty much up, and as Barath began to do what was needed, he fell too. Alford kept it interesting with a couple of sixes in the penultimate over, but ultimately, it was over.

Series State	Pakistan lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	None given.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - No wickets, but only 23 runs from his 4, showed his class.
Team News	Imran Khan replaces the young Mark Nixon.

Aside - I bloody love Luke Wright.

wrong scorecard could you get the correct score card up plzzz (big fan by the way)