Ruthless Pakistan fire into semis

Hafeez hit a half century as Pakistan reached their target without losing a wicket in the Bangaldesh capital [Reuters]

Captain Shahid Afridi led from the front as Pakistan dismissed West Indies for a meagre 112 before completing a 10-wicket win to become the first team to go through to the World Cup semifinals.

Afridi captured four for 30 from 9.3 overs to take his total for the tournament to 21 and overtake former skipper Imran Khan as the leading Pakistan wicket taker at a single Cricket World Cup.

But his skills with the bat were not needed in Dhaka as openers Mohamed Hafeez, with 61, and Kamran Akmal’s 47 guided Pakistan home.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman to defy the Pakistan attack on Wednesday, scoring an unbeaten 44 from 106 balls.

West Indies, the 1975 and 1979 champions, never recovered after losing their first three wickets with only 16 on the board.

Quarterfinal scorecard

West Indies innings D Smith lbw b Mohammad Hafeez 7 C Gayle c Afridi b Umar Gul 8 R Sarwan c Umar Akmal b Afridi 24 D Bravo lbw b Mohammad Hafeez 0 S Chanderpaul not out 44 K Pollard c Kamran Akmal b Afridi 1 D Thomas lbw b Afridi 0 D Sammy lbw b Saeed Ajmal 1 D Bishoo b Saeed Ajmal 0 K Roach c Younus Khan b A Razzaq 16 R Rampaul b Shahid Afridi 0 Extras: 11 Total: (all out, 43.3 overs) 112 FoW: 1-14 2-16 3-16 4-58 5-69 6-69 7-71 8-71 9-111 10-112 Pakistan innings Kamran Akmal not out 47 Mohammad Hafeez not out 61 Extras: 5 Total: (20.5 overs) 113

After Darren Sammy had won the toss and elected to bat, Chris Gayle struck Umar Gul straight to Afridi at mid-off.

Devon Smith and Darren Bravo both fell lbw in the space of four balls to off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, who had shared the new ball.

Experienced

The experienced Guyana pair of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul took the total to 58 before Sarwan was caught by Umar Akmal off Afridi for 24.

Afridi then dismissed Kieron Pollard and Devon Thomas off consecutive balls

Sammy was dropped by Younus Khan at slip off Saeed Ajmal on one but lasted only one more ball before he was lbw to the off-spinner.

Two balls later, Ajmal bowled Devendra Bishoo for a duck.

Kemar Roach recorded his best one-day score of 16, helping Chanderpaul to add 30 for the ninth wicket.

Despite the defeat, the West Indies did earn some praise from former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar, who admired the vain rearguard action of Chanderpaul and Roach.

Almost three weeks after West Indies humiliated Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium by skittling the co-hosts for their lowest ODI score of 58, the Caribbeans were in danger of slumping to their lowest ever World Cup total while tottering on 71-8 against Pakistan on Wednesday.

And Bashar said Bangladesh needed to learn how to fight in the face of collapse.

“This means Bangladesh have still go a long way to be competent enough in the world cricket,” Bashar told reporters while visiting the press box at the stadium.

Considering West Indies were reeling on 16-3 in the sixth over against Pakistan, Bashar said their ability to prolong the innings was a
major achievement.

“After fall of three wickets for 16 (Ramnaresh) Sarwan and Chanderpaul played coolly despite the huge tension. They steadied the innings and did not go for big shots,” he told the Reuters news agency.

“They showed that surviving for as long as possible should be their main goal. If batsmen can stay at the wicket some runs will come and that will help the team to avert the kind of humiliation we suffered that day (when Bangladesh fell for 58).”