Pakistan suffered their second consecutive loss as they were handed a crushing 150-run defeat by the West Indies who rode on Andre Russell’s all-round show in a completely one-sided cricket World Cup match here today.

Russell smashed 42 runs of just 13 balls at the fag end of West Indies innings, hitting three fours and four sixes, after half centuries from Denesh Ramdin (51) and Lendl Simmons (50) to help his side score a challenging 310 for 6 after being put into bat.

He then grabbed three wickets for 33 runs as the West Indies bundled Pakistan out for 160 in 39 overs to post a massive win at the Hagley Oval.

Pakistan, on the other hand, dished out a listless performance in all departments of the game to slump to their second defeat in the showpiece tournament. They had lost to arch-rivals India by 76 runs in their campaign opener on February 15.

Opting to field after winning the toss, Pakistan let the West Indies off the hook after reducing them to 28 for 2 as the Caribbeans cruised to 310 for 6 by scoring 115 runs in the final 10 overs.

Butter-fingered Pakistan fielders put down four catches while their bowlers, except Mohammad Irfan (1/44) and Shahid Afridi (0/48), bled runs at nearly seven an over before their batsmen produced the worst ever start to fold up for 160.

Spineless batting

Pakistan’s hopes of chasing the stiff target virtually ended in 3.1 overs as by then they had lost four wickets for just one run in an unbelievable show of spineless batting. The loss will put Pakistan in a difficult position to qualify for the knock-out stage from seven-team Group B.

In the process, Pakistan dished out the worst batting show ever by top four batsmen of any team in an ODI, surpassing four wickets for four runs by Canada against Zimbabwe at Port of Spain in a tri-series match.

Only Umar Akmal (59), Sohaib Maqsood (50) and Shahid Afridi (28) could give some resistance against a disciplined bowling display by the West Indians. All the remaining eight Pakistan batsmen failed to touch double-digit scores.

Pacer Jerome Taylor rocked the Pakistan top-order by grabbing three wickets for 15 runs while left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn took two wickets. Captain Jason Holder and Darren Sammy chipped in with a wicket each.

Nasir Jamshed was the first two go in the second ball of the run chase for a duck as his pull shot off Taylor went up the air for Russell to take the catch at short midwicket.

Four balls later, an out-of-form Younis Khan missed the line of a pitch-up delivery which swung away to edge to wicketkeeper Ramdin for a first-ball duck as Taylor took two wickets in his sensational first over.

Taylor then dismissed Haris Sohail in his second over for the third successive duck of the run chase with the batsman attempting to play a cut shot with an angled bat only to find substitute fielder JL Carter at backward point.

The other opener Ahmed Shehzad did a shade better than his three colleagues by scoring one run before he was out next ball and first of the fourth over bowled by Holder.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq tried to revive the innings for a while but he also fell in the 11th over as he got a thick edge of the bowling of Russell with Chris Gayle taking a brilliant catch at slips. It was all over for Pakistan by then as they were reduced to 25 for five.

Sixth wicket stand

Maqsood and Akmal gave some fight with a 80-run stand for the sixth wicket from 15 overs before both fell in quick succession. By the time Afridi came in at the fall of Maqsood’s wicket in 26th over, the asking had shot up to nearly nine an over but the senior batsman gave a flicker of hope for Pakistan by hitting Sammy for three fours in an over.

Afridi, however, could do little as he became the ninth batsman out for a 26-ball 28 in the 37th over with Holder taking a low catch at short midwicket.

Gusty last 10 overs

Earlier, Ramdin and Simmons hit half centuries as the West Indies smashed 115 runs in the final 10 overs to post a challenging 310 for six.

Pakistan opted to field after winning the toss and their bowlers put the West Indies on the backfoot straightaway by reducing the Caribbeans to 28 for two by the eighth over. But from then onwards, Pakistan let the West Indies off the hook with some shoddy fielding and as many as four dropped catches.

The West Indies ensured that they do not lose wickets in the middle overs while also scoring runs at a reasonable pace before a final assault in the final overs from which they scored 115 runs while losing two wickets.

The final five overs yielded an astounding 79 runs with Sammy (30 off 28 balls) and Russell (42 not out off 13 balls) tearing apart the Pakistan bowling attack.

The way Russell batted at fag end of West Indies innings after coming in the 48th over, it looked like he would have gone past New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum’s new World Cup record of 18-ball half century had he faced some more overs.

Russell hit three fours and four sixes in his stunning 13-ball innings. He hit three sixes off Sohail Khan in the 49th over as West Indies took 22 runs off that over.

Chris Gayle failed once again as he scored just four in his 14-ball stay at the crease while his opening partner Dwayne Smith could do a bit better by contributing 23. Darren Bravo retired hurt due to a left hamstring injury after playing a solid innings of 78-ball 49.

Wicketkeeper Ramdin (51) held the West Indies kept going in the middle overs with two useful partnerships of 49 runs with Bravo (49 runs) and of 42 runs with last match centurion Simmons (50) before he was out in the 40th over. He faced 43 balls for his 51 and hit seven fours.

Butter-fingered Pakistani fielders

Pakistan struggled on the field all through the West Indies innings, dropping as many as four times with veteran Afridi being the culprit on two occasions.

Nasir Jamshed dropped Darren Smith in the fifth over when the batsman was on 11. Afridi then dropped Samuels in the 20th over when the batsman was on 27 and then repeated the same act nine overs later by giving life to Darren Bravo when he was on 45. Mohammed Irfan dropped Simmons in the 46th over when the batsman was on 44.

The eventful first innings saw Bravo being forced to retire hurt after suffering a left hamstring injury while taking a quick single in the 32nd over. He was earlier struck on the left side of helmet by a Younis Khan throw while trying to make his ground at the striker’s end after Samuels pushed the ball to cover area in the 24th over. He spent several minutes on the ground in pain.

Brief scores:

West Indies: 310 for six in 50 overs (Denesh Ramdin 51, Lendl Simmons 50, Darren Bravo 49 retired hurt, Andre Russell 42 not out; Haris Sohail 2/62).

Pakistan: 160 all out in 39 overs (Umar Akmal 59, Sohaib Maqsood 50; Jerome Taylor 3/15, Andre Russell 3/33).

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