KARACHI: Hosts Pakistan emerged as world champions by overpowering West Indies by 152 runs in the final of the inaugural Over 40s Cricket Global Cup at National Bank Stadium on Monday.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq’s fluent century enabled Pakistan to post an imposing total of 328/4 in the allotted 45 overs before bowling out their opponents for a meagre 176 in 38.5 overs with spinner Abdul Qadir picking up six wickets for 35 runs.
Misbah chose to bat first after beating rival skipper Narsingh Deonarine in the spin of the coin.
The West Indians did a fabulous job by containing the Pakistani openers, Abdul Razzaq and Amjad Ali, who had massacred the Australian bowlers in the semifinal at the same venue.
Pakistan, in fact, was in a spot of bother when both Razzaq (38 off 58 balls) and Amjad (28 off 28 balls) perished in quick succession after a quiet start.
The stage was set for the captain to lead by example and Misbah did exactly that by adding 173 for the third wicket with Hassan Raza, who made 68 off 64 balls. Misbah departed after scoring 106 off 93 balls with the help of seven sixes and six fours.
The cameo from Tasawwar Abbas, who finished unbeaten on 58 off only 21 balls allowed the home side to score nearly 100 runs from the last seven overs which lifted the total.
Former Test leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo (2-50) was the pick of the West Indian bowlers.
West Indies began the chase of 329 in a bid to lift the inaugural Over 40s Global Cup title in a confident manner with openers Randy Thomas (37 off 51 balls) and Devindra Maharaj (17 off 34 balls) seeing off new ball operators, Muhammad Sami and Imran Ali, during their 57-run partnership.
The introduction of spin, as expected, brought about their downfall and the sensational spell of Abdul Qadir, yielding six wickets, sealed the fate of the match.
Lawrence Farnum (41 off 54 balls) and Sanjeev Gooljar (28 off 37 balls) delayed the inevitable for a while by adding 65 for the eighth wicket but Hassan Raza took the last three wickets in quick succession to seal the deal for Pakistan.
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