DUBAI: Babar Azam scored fifty to lead Pakistan to seven-wicket victory against the West Indies in the warm-up game of T20 World Cup here on Monday.
The skipper tackled the situation well as they set to chase a small target after commendable efforts from the bowlers.
Pakistani bowlers dominated first inning as they restricted West Indies to 130-7.
Starting off with Hasan Ali bagging Andre Fletcher earlier, Pakistani bowlers hold two-time T20 World Cup champions tightly. The Men in Maroon kept losing wickets after regular intervals.
The survival seemed difficult for the batting side as Hasan, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged two wickets each.
Chris Gayle scored 20 runs followed by Shimron Hetmyer (28). Skipper Kieron Pollard stood firm in the end and smashed 23 off 10 balls including five boundaries to take West Indies to a defendable total. He smashed Haris for five boundaries in last over.
In reply, Pakistani openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan were looking in good touch with scoring 36 runs in 5.2 overs. Ravi Rampaul provided a breakthrough to his team as he bowled Rizwan. The wicket-keeper batter scored 13 off 17 balls.
Babar carried the inning from there with left-handed Fakhar Zaman who ended up as not-out for 46 runs. They both scored 58 runs together before Babar walked off following his wicket to Hayden Walsh just after completing his half-century.
He smoked 50 runs off 41 balls laced with six boundaries and a six whereas Fakha accounted for four boundaries and two sixes in his 46-run knock. Shoaib Malik contributed 14 runs including two boundaries.
For West Indies, Walsh picked up two wickets while Rampaul bagged one.
