Picture Credit: Twitter/@TheRealPCB
After registering a comprehensive win in the first one-day international against West Indies, Pakistan started off well in the second ODI despite an early blow in the form of Fakhar Zaman (17 off 28). Skipper Babar Azam, who scored a brilliant 103 in 107 deliveries in the series opener, stitched a crucial 120-run partnership with Imam-ul-Haq to put the hosts in the commanding position.
While both the players were cruising ahead on the back of their sublime form and had already scored half-centuries, a terrible miscommunication between both the quality batters, ruined their yet another superb partnership in limited-over format.
Notably, this was their fifth-century stand in seven outings. It all happened in the 28th over of the first innings when Imam guided the fullish delivery towards deep mid-wicket and ran towards the non-striker anticipating a quick single. However, skipper Nicholas Pooran who was prompt enough to grab the ball inside the circle, realized Babar had not left his crease and Imam was too far from his, threw the ball towards the keeper, Shai Hope who dislodged the bails leaving Imam completely furious.
Disappointed with the sudden turn of events, Imam-ul-Haq took the hard long walk towards the dressing room while venting out his anger by shouting and hitting the bat in the air.
Check out the video below:
Speaking of the match, Pakistan suffered a mini-collapse in the middle overs, but an impressive cameo from Mohammad Wasim Jr (17 off 13) and Shaheen Afridi (15 off 6) helped the hosts to put a competitive 275/8 in 50 overs. Hosein picked three wickets for Windies, whereas Alzarri Joseph and Anderson Phillip took two every.
In response to 275, West Indies have got a decent start after the early dismissal of opener Shai Hope (4 off 6) in the first over. Currently, Kyle Mayers* (33 off 46) and Shamarh Brooks* (32 off 28) are trying to stitch a crucial partnership for their side in order to save the match and series.