GEORGETOWN, Guyana –West Indies fast bowler Jason Holder returned career-best bowling figures but he was topped by a magnificent allround display from Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi as West Indies suffered a heavy defeat in the first One-Day International on Sunday.
Shahid Afridi struck 76 and return to take 7 for 12 as Pakistan demolish West Indies.
The tall Holder, playing in just his fourth ODI, had the outstanding figures of 10-4-13-4. He got the ball to swing and bounce to rattle the Pakistan top order at the Guyana National Stadium. They were at one stage 47-5 but made a strong recovery to reach 224-9 off 50 overs.
Afridi however proved to be the game-changer with a superb knock of 76 off just 55 balls. He returned to take 7-12 off nine overs – the second best bowling figures in ODI history – as Pakistan won by 126 runs.
Speaking after the match West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo said he was disappointed with the result but promised a better fight when the two teams meet again at the same venue on Tuesday. He was also full of praise for Holder’s bowling effort.
“Jason was really good for us at the top of the Pakistan innings and gave us the kind of start we were looking for. We know what he can do — he is a good bowler for us and showed his quality today. That was a fantastic spell and to have half the side down for less than 50 was really good after we won the toss and bowled first,” Bravo said.
“Overall, we’re disappointed with today’s result and we know we have to come back on Tuesday and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again. The batting let us down again and we need to get better, especially in the batting to get back into the series and beat them.”
Bravo added: “We have to get this defeat out of our system and come hard at them again on Tuesday. Afridi played really well with bat and ball and made the difference.”
