Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, two of Pakistan’s most experienced and stalwart cricketers, faltered when their team needed them most against the West Indies. Their failure in the crucial match not only cost Pakistan the game but also the series. Rizwan, who was also the captain, blamed the bowlers for the defeat, echoing a familiar sentiment from the previous match. West Indies’ Jayden Seales was instrumental in dismantling Pakistan’s batting lineup.
Seales took down half of Pakistan’s team single-handedly in the match and claimed 10 wickets in the series, making him the leading wicket-taker for the West Indies in the ODI series. He was the only bowler to reach double figures in terms of wickets.
The series decider, played on August 12, saw Seales wreaking havoc from the first over. He dismissed Pakistan’s star opener, Sam Ayub, on the third ball of the first over and then sent the other opener, Abdullah Shafique, back to the pavilion in his next over. This marked the first time in 15 years that both of Pakistan’s openers were dismissed for zero in an ODI.
After the openers’ early exit, the hopes of Pakistan rested on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. However, Seales dashed those hopes as well, dismissing captain Mohammad Rizwan in his second over. Like the openers, Rizwan also failed to score in the series decider.
With defeat looming, the entire Pakistani team looked to Babar Azam to change the tide. Azam managed to open his account and played 20 balls, raising hopes, but Seales struck again, dismissing Babar Azam after he had scored 23 runs. This was the fourth blow to Pakistan, who were chasing a target of 295 runs.
Seales then claimed two more wickets, dismissing Naseem Shah and Hasan Ali. He finished the series decider with figures of 6 wickets for 18 runs in 7.2 overs, his career-best performance. Overall, Seales took 10 wickets in the series in three matches.
The third and final ODI against the West Indies was of utmost importance for Pakistan. Winning the series would have allowed them to maintain their record of never having lost an ODI series against the West Indies since 1991. However, both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed in their roles, leading to Pakistan’s defeat and the end of a 34-year streak.
