Pakistan secure emphatic win in third ODI Monday, December 11, 2006 04:02 [IST]

Lahore: Opener Imran Farhat hit an
aggressive half-century and paceman Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took 3-37 to help Pakistan beat the West
Indies by seven wickets in the third one-day match on Sunday.
The dashing left-hander hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 72-ball 58
to help Pakistan
achieve a revised target of 191 with eight deliveries to spare and take an
unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Pakistan won the second
match at Faisalabad by two wickets after the
first match was washed out due to rain at Rawalpindi.
Lendl Simmons hit an attractive 70 before bad light stopped play and
technical problems with floodlights caused an hour's delay. It forced the West Indies innings to end at 207-7 after 46.3 overs.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said internal faults disrupted the power supply.
The home team's target was revised under the Duckworth-Lewis formula to 191
from 35 overs.
Pakistan,
without their captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who injured his left little finger while
fielding in the morning, got the start they needed with 64 through Farhat and
Mohammad Hafeez (31) by the 13th over.
Off-spinner Chris Gayle dismissed Hafeez and then Kamran Akmal (24) but
Farhat was in a rampaging mood, hitting and driving to perfection. He was
caught off Corey Collymore with 43 needed off 9.5 overs.
Mohammad Yousuf (28) and Shoaib Malik (21) remained unbeaten when the target
was achieved.
Pakistan
captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said the target was not easy.
"Chasing 191 runs was not easy but we had a good start and especially
Farhat played well. It was good practice on a seaming wicket because we have to
tour South Africa
next where we can encounter such tracks," said Inzamam.
West Indian captain Brian Lara blamed his bowlers for conceding too many
extras.
"After Farhat's innings, extras let us down," said Lara, whose
team conceded 31 extras with 17 wides.
"We didn't really bowl well because a target of 191 was in our favour
and on a seaming wicket we should have done well," said Lara, who played
down the power failure.
"Not really, these things happen. We had a competitive score at the
half way stage but we didn't put the ball in the right areas and you can't bowl
so many wides and extra deliveries," he said.
West Indies, sent in to bat, owed their
recovery to Simmons who added 52 for the second wicket with Gayle (41) and 61
for the fourth wicket with Daren Ganga (20) after the tourists lost Lara for a
first-ball duck.
Simmons hit seven boundaries in his 130-ball patient knock before he was
bowled by Naved in the 47th over.
Lara, who decided to open the innings, missed a straight delivery from Rana
Naved-ul-Hasan and was leg-before for a first ball duck.
Gayle took 13 runs off fast bowler Umar Gul's third over and then took 21
off Naved, including three boundaries and a six to race to 41 off 37
deliveries.
Naved, however, ended Gayle's fiery knock by trapping him leg-before in the
eighth over.
Marlon Samuels was unlucky to be given out for 13, caught in the slip by
Imran Farhat off paceman Rao Iftikhar when television replays showed the ball
touched the ground before Farhat snapped it up.
Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman struck a double blow by bowling Ganga and then Runako Morton (seven) to finish with 2-33.
Dwayne Smith hit two boundaries and a six in his quickfire 23 and helped
Simmons add another 28 for the sixth wicket before Gul removed Smith and Naved
accounted for Simmons.
West Indies were forced to keep an
unchanged team after key batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul failed to recover from
a knee injury. Pakistan
missed vice captain Younis Khan who missed the match due to his brother's
death.
Mohammad Yousuf, who missed the second match due to his wife's illness,
returned for the only change in the side which played at Faisalabad.
The fourth match is scheduled for Multan
on December 13. The fifth and final match will be played in Karachi on December 16.
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