Pakistan complete whitewash

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Third One Day International
Abu Dhabi
Pakistan 273-6 Innings Complete (Younus Khan 101, Misbah-ul-Haq 79 no) v West Indies 242 (C H Gayle 122, R R Sarwan 62, Iftikhar Anjum 4-59)
Pakistan beat West Indies by 31 runs

Pakistan overcame a century from West Indies captain Chris Gayle to score a 31-run victory in the third one-day international, played in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Pacemen Rao Iftikhar and Umar Gul claimed seven wickets between them as Pakistan took a win which also secured a 3-0 series whitewash.

Gayle's 122 was his 18th one-day hundred and second of the series.

It also helped the West Indies keep their opponents' total of 273-6 in sight before Iftikhar's second spell brought four quick wickets.

Younis Khan also made a century, his knock of 101 being complemented by Misbah-ul-Haq's 79 not out to anchor the Pakistan total.

Iftikhar was hit for 25 runs in his first spell of three overs before returning to take four wickets for just nine runs in one crucial burst.

His efforts saw the tourists slip from 168-1 to 193-6.

Collapse

The collapse began when Iftikhar broke the second-wicket partnership of Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan - one that had contributed 151 runs.

The latter batsman made a flawless 62 from 73 balls before he misjudged a leg cutter.

Iftikhar struck twice more in the 35th over, first having the in-form Shivnarine Chanderpaul (3) caught at deep midwicket by Misbah, with Xavier Marshall bowled for a duck four balls later.

He also dismissed Shawn Findlay (5) while leg spinner Shahid Afridi, who was hit for three sixes by Gayle, had Brendan Nash (1) caught behind to leave the West Indies' innings in tatters.

Umar Gul then dismissed Gayle - caught behind after a 137-ball knock which included six sixes in a total of 11 boundaries - with the Windies needing 42 runs from 37 balls.

Earlier, Pakistan made a disastrous start to their innings when opener Salman Butt edged Daren Powell's second ball to Findlay at second slip.

Khurram Manzoor was dropped twice off the bowling of Powell and those errors proved costly as he added 85 runs for the second wicket with Younis.

The latter hit five fours and a six from 119 balls and put on 103 runs for the third wicket with Misbah.

Younis finally departed in the 42nd over after trying to reverse sweep left-arm spinner Nikita Miller.

Kamran Akmal provided a flourish, scoring 21 runs in 11 balls with two sixes before he was bowled by Jerome Taylor - who claimed figures of 2-50 - off the last ball of the innings.

Big step forward

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik described the clean sweep as a big step forward for his team.

"We have been short of international cricket this year and to return and complete a clean sweep to improve our rankings is great," he said.

"I am very happy for the entire team, as this was a very good team effort. The batsmen, led by Younis Khan and Misbah, put up a good total and then all our bowlers bowled well.

"This win will put us in a good frame of mind for the important series against India."

Gayle lamented missed opportunities and said his side needed to go back to basics ahead of their upcoming series against New Zealand.

"We had three centuries in three matches, and ended up losing all three," he said. "It is very disappointing because we were close to winning the series but made some small mistakes here and there.

"We have a series against New Zealand next and we need to get our basics right."

It is the fourth time Pakistan have completed a clean sweep in a one-day series against the West Indies.