Babar Azam misses century by 91 runs as Pakistan lose to Shai Hope alone

They can’t even score 100 against the West Indies, and yet they dream of beating India in the Asia Cup. Pakistan cricket’s list of new low points gets updated daily, and the 3rd ODI vs West Indies was just the latest episode.

Their full-strength senior side collapsed for 92 against a 9th-ranked ODI team. Meanwhile, West Indies’ Shai Hope alone scored 120. In a way, Pakistan didn’t lose to a team; they lost to just one player, by 28 runs.

Openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub, along with Mohammad Rizwan, couldn’t even open their accounts. In fact, 5 Pakistan batters went out for ducks. And yes, this was the first time in 34 years that any Pakistan team lost an ODI series to West Indies. Historic, but not in the way they’d like.

But credit where it’s due - their so-called Babar Azam was sensational. He only missed his century by 91 runs. This now makes it 72 consecutive innings without a hundred for him. And guess who his last ton came against? Nepal.

Quoting a legend here - 'Ya to win hai ya to learn hai'. Here, Pakistan only learned how to lose faster.

Pakistan's decision to put the hosts into bat seemed like the right call initially, as the West Indies were reduced to 113/4 in 30.3 overs. But Shai Hope dropped anchor and then cut loose to finish unbeaten on 120 off just 94 balls. That helped the Windies end at 294/6.

Pakistan's run chase never got the wheels as they found themselves wanting at 23/4. Three of their top 4 batters were out for ducks, with Babar Azam dismissed for just 9. There was no scope of staging a comeback after that, as the visitors were bundled out for a mere 92 and lost the match by 202 runs.

For the Windies, Jayden Seales registered figures of 6/18 to etch his name in history books. Those are now the best-ever bowling figures against Pakistan in ODI cricket, breaking Dale Steyn's 12-year-old record.