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Hamilton Masakadza and Paul Stirling made it a short evening’s work for Sylhet Royals, who blazed to a six-wicket victory against Khulna Royal Bengals

The Report by Mohammad Isam23-Jan-2013
ScorecardHamilton Masakadza and Paul Stirling made it a short evening’s work for Sylhet Royals, who blazed to a six-wicket victory – their third in a row – against Khulna Royal Bengals. Their 78-run stand, which helped Royals to the highest Powerplay total of the BPL – 81 for 1 – came after the unlikely new-ball pair of Dirk Nannes and Sohag Gazi had produced identical figures to limit Royal Bengals.Nannes and Gazi both had figures of 2 for 20 from four overs, and Suhrawadi Shuvo took 1 for 22, making it only 62 runs off those 12 overs. Though Khulna tried to make up by adding 83 in the other eight overs, their total of 157 for 4 was modest. The Royals captain Mushfiqur Rahim also had a role to play: he took two superb catches, the first one breaking an important partnership between Riki Wessels and Daniel Harris. Wessels remained unbeaten on 63 off 44 balls, with four boundaries and a couple of slog-swept sixes.During the chase, Masakadza blasted Shapoor Zadran for a boundary and two sixes before Stirling finished the innings’ second over with two more boundaries to take 25 off it. Masakadza scored four boundaries in Farhad Reza’s next over, before leaving it to Stirling to pick up four sixes in the next two overs off Nabil Samad and Sanjamul Islam, who was hit for three sixes in the space of four balls in his first over.Stirling missed a straight one from Nabil before Masakadza was cleaned up by a beauty from Zadran, this time coming from around the wicket. By then, however, the Royals needed to score at four an over in the next nine overs to complete the win, which they eventually did with 22 balls to spare.The Royal Bengals are bottom in the league after losing their third game in a row, while the Royals are level with Dhaka Gladiators on six points at the top of the table.

Ashley Giles, England’s new one-day coach, could have been forgiven if he was caught cold in his opening practice in Delhi

David Hopps04-Jan-2013Ashley Giles knows he will be in for a few surprises as he takes over the coaching of England’s one-day sides, but he could have been forgiven if he was caught cold in his opening practice in Delhi.India’s capital is experiencing some of its most-bone chilling temperatures on record and it was 5C at best when he supervised his first session in light fog ahead of a warm-up match against India A in Delhi on Sunday. Back home in Birmingham on Friday, there were prospects of a positively warming 10C with even the promise of a sunny interval or two.Giles faces quite a challenge if England are to win his first series in charge. They have won only one ODI series in India, in 1984-5, and their last two visits have ended in 5-0 whitewashes for the home side.As for the weather, England might not have experienced their coldest day. Two more of their matches are in the northern outposts of Mohali, which they know well, and Dharmasala, in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is a stunning spot, but maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to vary between -6C and 6C in the next four days – and the match is less than three weeks away.Even in England, an international is not thought to have taken place in temperatures quite as low as that. Kevin Pietersen, who was not always enamoured with the weather in northern England after returning from IPL, could be just one player in for a treat.Tim Bresnan donned a beanie to peer through the fog and predict that all would be well at the start of the Giles era. “He floated in and out during the Test series in his role as a selector, talked to some of the lads and it was good,” he said.”Most of the plans we use for one-day cricket are already in place and I think it will be pretty seamless for him to come in and pick up the reins. He’s quite chilled out but we’ll see what happens. He might fire a few rockets and surprise people. That’s what you get from a new coach and we’re looking forward to it.”One India A name familiar to England will be Sreesanth, the fast bowler, who returned to competitive cricket last month after an absence of a year with a career-threatening injury. Sreesanth spent two months in a wheelchair after two operations on his toes and has called the experience “the darkest phase of my life.”The side will be led by Tamil Nadu’s opening batsman Abhinav Mukund who Bresnan also know from the Test series in England during 2011.

Sylhet Royals finally ran out of steam as they lost their first match after five wins, to Dhaka Gladiators by 31 runs

Mohammad Isam29-Jan-2013
ScorecardSylhet Royals finally ran out of steam as they lost their first match after five wins, to Dhaka Gladiators by 31 runs. Royals had previously won four matches chasing more than 140 with ease, but fell comfortably below the target this time.Three Royals batsmen were run out, starting with Dwayne Smith, who slipped
in the middle of the pitch in the second over. Mohammad Nabi and Nazmul
Hossain Milon also ended up short of the crease, reducing Royals to 47 for 5 in the ninth over. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim made 41 off 37 balls, but couldn’t take the team past the three-figure mark. The team limped to 127 for 8 in 20 overs.After Smith’s run out, Gladiators captain Mashrafe Mortaza took his first
wicket of the tournament. Alfonso Thomas and left-arm spinner Saqlain
Sajib took two wickets each to stifle the middle-order further.Gladiators had put together a competitive total, though it was
short of the scores put up the previous night in front of a full-house. They had some luck initially when Sohag Gazi dropped a simple chance at mid-on to let off Josh Cobb. But Mohammad Ashraful was the first to go, falling to Sulieman Benn in the fourth over. Shakib Al Hasan and Cobb also fell in the next four overs, before two fifty-plus partnerships rescued the Gladiators.Stevens cracked two sixes in his unbeaten 35-ball 55, adding 53 for the
fourth wicket with Owais Shah and another 52 for the fifth wicket with the
aggressive Anamul Haque, who smashed three sixes and a boundary in his
18-ball 32.

New South Wales will afford their next state coach control of a Big Bash League team, falling into line with the coaching structure favoured by the rest of the country

Daniel Brettig01-Mar-2013New South Wales will afford their next state coach control of a Big Bash League team, falling into line with the coaching structure favoured by the rest of the country after a disjointed and often disastrous two years of separated roles.The Blues have advertised the position of coach with applications to close by Friday, March 8, the description calling for candidate with “a successful coaching career with proven results, in addition to having successfully managed a coaching structure at the highest level.”All candidates should have experience of coaching at International level, plus have demonstrated success in all three forms of the game.”This would appear to place the Sydney Sixers coach Trevor Bayliss in strong contention to resume his former job as state coach, having left the state to mentor Sri Lanka.He returned in 2011 and was keen to resume with the Blues, but had to settle for the BBL role alone due to the then chief executive David Gilbert’s insistence that the roles be split.Gilbert appointed Anthony Stuart as head coach of NSW, while Bayliss guided the Sixers to the inaugural BBL title then the Champions League.Bayliss was less successful in season two of the tournament, and the problems experienced by both the Sixers and the Sydney Thunder have encouraged NSW to look for a better integrated structure.The Thunder have been by a distance the most poorly performed team in the BBL, and their general manager John Dyson paid for a winless second season with his job earlier this week.For 2013-14 it is expected that the NSW state coach will run one BBL team while his assistant takes the reins of the other, reminiscent of the roles performed by Greg Shipperd and Simon Helmot in Victoria.”The new role will oversee the implementation and development of a coaching structure for Cricket NSW that will include the State side and two Big Bash Teams,” the job description states. “The State Coach will play an active role as Head Coach of the State team and ideally a Big Bash League team.”Apart from Bayliss, another former Blues coach, Steve Rixon, may also come into contention, having been mentioned by the outgoing chairman Harry Harinath.Rixon is currently employed as the fielding and spin bowling coach for the national team, and is regarded highly by the captain Michael Clarke, who also leads NSW when not on international duty.

A preview of Pune Warriors in IPL 2013

The Preview by Amol Karhadkar03-Apr-2013

Big picture

Angelo Mathews will be Pune Warriors’ third captain in three years•AFP

Sunrisers may be the newest entrants to the IPL (family) but it would be Warriors who would be seen in a new avatar. Since their bottom-placed finish last year, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. When it came to running the team, it was a one-man army last year, with Sourav Ganguly acting as a captain-mentor.Come 2013, and Ganguly is nowhere in the picture. Instead, it’s Allan Donald who has been elevated from a bowling coach to the head coach. And for the third time during their third year in IPL, Warriors have appointed a new captain at the start of the season. Beyond the captain and the navigator of the ship lie the real changes. There are more than a dozen changes to the squad that represented Warriors last year.Those who attended Donald’s half-hour interaction with the press would realise that their homework has been near- perfect. Warriors made far too many changes to their line-up last year. As a result, only one player – Robin Uthappa – featured in each of their 16 games, while a whopping 23 players got at least a game. As a result, the team combination was far from settled throughout the season.This time around, though, Donald and Co have decided to downsize the squad for every game from 33 to 16, if not 15. And the thrust during the build-up hasn’t just been on adding match-winning overseas cricketers. As a result, domestic stars like Abhishek Nayar, Ishwar Pandey, T Suman and Parvez Rasool, who became the first player from Jammu & Kashmir to have been signed by an IPL franchise after impressive domestic season, have indeed made Warriors a formidable outfit at least on paper.The coming weeks will tell us whether the line-up that looks as impressive as any other on paper delivers the goods on the field.

Key Players

He was the captain and the marquee player during their inaugural season and was forced to watch Warriors from the sidelines during IPL 2012. Warriors will be looking forward to Yuvraj Singh marking his return to IPL in style. Despite being the star of India’s triumphant world titles in both the shorter versions of the game, Yuvraj hasn’t really lived up to his potential in the IPL so far. Warriors would be hoping that the next two months help Yuvraj change that.Once it was decided that Yuvraj won’t be considered for captaincy and Michael Clarke pulled out due to the recurrence of his back injury, Angelo Mathews emerged as the leading candidate to skipper the side. Mathews is already a vital cog in terms of the balance of the team, and his elevation has increased the responsibility on him further. Mathews would be hoping to draw all the experience he has gained from leading Sri Lanka in Tests and ODIs recently.

Big names in

The signing of Ross Taylor from Delhi Daredevils can help Warriors fill the gap of the floater they missed all through the last season. Taylor will be desperate to feel at home with what will be his fourth IPL team. And if the track for their home games is as slow and low as it was during the last year, Ajantha Mendis can be a handful with his not-so-mysterious-anymore spin bowling. Mind you, Mendis may be a familiar proposition for regulars at the international stage, but he can be destructive against the domestic batsmen.

Big names out

Michael Clarke’s unavailability for the entire duration of the tournament is a big blow for Warriors. Though Clarke isn’t exactly renowned for his Twenty20 skills, he is widely regarded as one of the most enterprising captains in the world cricket. It is his leadership ability that Warriors will sorely miss.

Availability

Ross Taylor is likely to miss the latter half of the tournament due to New Zealand’s tour to England. And Tamim Iqbal, who injured himself during an ODI in Sri Lanka last week, is unlikely to be available for at least the first half of the tournament due to Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe.

Chris Gayle blitzed the fastest hundred in Twenty20s and the highest score in Twenty20s as Royal Challengers ran up the tallest total in Twenty20 history

The Report by Siddhartha Talya23-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Gayle brought Pune Warriors to their knees with one of the most destructive innings ever played•BCCI

The big records broken

• Fastest hundred in T20s – 30 balls

• Highest individual score in T20s – 175*

• Highest team score in T20s – 263 for 5

• Most sixes hit in an innings – 17 by Gayle, 21 by RCB

Chris Gayle can shatter dreams. Ask Ishwar Pandey, the highest wicket-taker in this year’s Ranji Trophy, who got smashed for 21 in his first over this IPL. Ask Mitchell Marsh, whose decent run with the ball this tournament was blown out of his memory, with his first over going for 28. Ask Aaron Finch, the third captain for Pune Warriors this season, who bowled an over hoping to restrict Gayle but didn’t bowl again after being blasted for 29. Ask Ali Murtaza, a specialist left-arm spinner thrown into the deep end in his first game this season, only to be hammered for 45 in two overs.The fastest hundred in T20 history was built on the misery of others, most notably a struggling franchise whose owners – they spent US$370 million to buy it – watched shell-shocked at their team’s bowlers being taken apart with a ruthlessness only a game of Cricket ’97 powered with cheat codes could have matched. After Gayle’s onslaught, there was only going to be one result, and further confirmation of that arrived when four wickets fell inside the first six overs of the Warriors chase. Their defeat was the second-biggest in terms of runs in the IPL’s six seasons.The destruction inflicted on the Warriors bowlers broke a series of records. Gayle smashed the fastest century in the format, brought off 30 balls; made the highest individual T20 score (175 not out); struck the most sixes by a batsman in a T20 innings (17); helped Royal Challengers Bangalore hit the most sixes for a team in a T20 innings (21) and reach the highest total in T20 cricket (263).The helplessness of the Warriors players was writ large on their faces. Luke Wright smiled with trepidation when Virat Kohli took a single to give Gayle the strike off his bowling, Yuvraj just shook his head as he watched one ball after another sail over the boundary rope and pretended to snatch Gayle’s bat at the end of the innings as he went over to congratulate him.The only interruption to Gayle’s effort was a 33-minute rain interval. He had warmed up before that with two boundaries off Pandey, and proceeded to smack him for three more in the same over after the rain relented. Unlike some of his innings this season where he was relatively restrained at the start, he came out prepared to attack from the outset today. His previous innings, against Rajasthan Royals, was an unbeaten 49 off 44 balls during which he batted 17.5 overs.It helped Gayle that Warriors bowled to him on a length, allowing him to hit through the line and straight, with minimum effort that masked the immense power behind his strokes that cleared the boundary with ease. Only one boundary out of the 30 to his name qualified as a mis-hit, an outside edge past short third man. At least two shots cleared the roof, the shot that brought up his century hit it and rebounded back into the lower tiers.That Gayle was not going to hold himself back, having taken 29 off the fifth over from Marsh, was evident in his approach to spin when Murtaza was brought on in the seventh over. Gayle decided to target the spinner with the turn, slog-sweeping and then smashing him flat for two sixes, then making Finch regret the move to bring himself on, hammering him for four sixes, all on the on-side. A rare yorker outside off from Ashok Dinda that Gayle missed was perhaps the only moral victory he afforded Warriors before reaching his century, a landmark he celebrated with a punch of the gloves then kneeling down and raising his arms.Murtaza may just have felt he could slip in a relatively quiet over when Gayle had mellowed down, somewhat, after reaching his ton, but Gayle demolished those thoughts. He punished Murtaza for three more sixes in a 28-run over, as Royal Challengers began another phase of domination in their innings after a moment’s breather – the last six overs produced 85 runs.Gayle’s innings was supported ably by opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was part of a 167-run opening stand, an IPL record, during which he only made 33. He quickly ceded floor to Gayle and played some attractive, text-book shots through point and down the ground. Unlike Dilshan at the start, AB de Villiers was the dominant partner in Warriors’ ruin at the death, thrashing 31 in just eight balls in a stand worth 44.Each played their role in helping Gayle guide the innings, which he did with a big smile, good-hearted banter with the Warriors fielders during the carnage, and an animated reaction when he reached his century. He signed off in the match with a gig at picking up two wickets in the only over he bowled – all a contrast to the man who made his first international appearance against India in Toronto in 1999, when it seemed hard to imagine a debutant as shy as him would one day become one of the most colourful characters on a cricket field.

Emotional outburst is now the accepted rationale of Mushfiqur Rahim’s resignation from the Bangladesh captaincy but BCB president Nazmul Hassan has vowed to get to the bottom of this sudden decision, hinting that there were other contributing factors.

Mohammad Isam09-May-2013Emotional outburst is now the accepted rationale of Mushfiqur Rahim’s resignation from the Bangladesh captaincy but BCB president Nazmul Hassan has vowed to get to the bottom of this sudden decision, hinting that there were other contributing factors.Mushfiqur’s inability to control himself has been well known to those close to him, and given how easily Bangladesh went down to Zimbabwe in the ODI on Wednesday, it was enough for him to get riled and defeat to Zimbabwe would obviously lead to anger in the Bangladesh dressing-room.There were far too many poor shots played by senior batsmen, including Mushfiqur, and the bowling was not efficient enough to defend 247 on Wednesday or 252 in the 2nd ODI. In general, there was a lack of hunger, noticeable in the players’ body language.There was, predictably, a lot of expectation on Bangladesh. A team that can beat West Indies and Sri Lanka would certainly be expected to win the subsequent series against Zimbabwe. Instead the pressure of expectation got to the players, some taking the contest too lightly while others, like Mushfiqur, visibly crumbled.When he took over as captain in 2011, former Bangladesh national selector Faruque Ahmed, who picked Mushfiqur at the age of 16 to play the Lord’s Test in 2005, pointed out only one blemish in Mushfiqur’s make-up, saying: “He has difficulty handling matters when he doesn’t do well himself.” In essence, Faruque meant that when his batting or wicketkeeping sees bad days, he has a difficult time coming to terms with it.At the time this was a minor factor as some argued that he was mature enough to keep a positive outlook in tough times. There was a short honeymoon period in his captaincy before losses to Pakistan at home, but over the last 12 months, Mushfiqur has led well and kept the team on an even keel.But in Zimbabwe, his preparation was hampered by poorly organised practice sessions and trouble in the hotel. For someone who is very particular with preparation, these were important issues that needed to be taken care of. Then came the 335-run defeat in the first Test, after which Bangladesh recovered with a series-equalling win in the second Test. Mushfiqur led from the front, his 93 in the second innings being the clinching factor. But the 2-1 ODI series defeat ultimately became the trigger for his announcement.He talked to BCB president Hassan on Wednesday night, but like he told his teammates and the media earlier, he did not elaborate on the “why” and “why now”. Apparently he was sobbing as he talked to Hassan, who was critical of the time he chose to quit, especially as it was done while on tour and with two more matches left to play.”Mushfiqur couldn’t speak properly when I called him,” Hassan said. “He was probably choking back tears. He just told me that he can’t give proper leadership, and that there were issues with teamwork. We will investigate all of this when the team returns.”But it wasn’t smart to give up the captaincy while on tour. We will find out upon his return why he quit so suddenly. We need to find out what compelled him to take this decision, if there were any instigating factors. If we find anyone guilty of hampering our team’s progress in any way, we will definitely take action.”Hassan said he will also talk to Mushfiqur about some of the shots the senior batsmen played. Throughout the three ODIs, there were ordinary dismissals from the top and middle-order batsmen that led to collapses but while they recovered through Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah and one occasion Abdur Razzak, it was not enough in the second and third ODIs.”We probably still don’t know how to bat in such conditions,” Hassan said. “But at the same time, the way some of the batsmen gave away their wickets at crucial times was just astonishing. I have told the management to investigate already, but I think it’s best to talk to Mushfiqur directly.”The Bangladesh captaincy has changed hands quite frequently over the last decade, despite the cultural subtext that success was not always the defining factor. Since the team loses more often, the captains over the years have been expected to lead from the front. In his stint, Mushfiqur has done it well on the field, but this move will lose him a lot of goodwill.If there were internal issues that prompted him to quit, Mushfiqur should have spoken to the players directly or gone through the cricket board. A defeat to Zimbabwe is unacceptable in Bangladesh, but this was no case to kick out the captain. It should have led to introspection, and now perhaps there will be, but with a lot of hue and cry.

Rob Key led the way with a buccaneering 144 not out as Kent maintained their challenge in Group A of the YB40 by crushing Netherlands by eight wickets on the first day of the 101st Tunbridge Wells festival week.

27-May-2013
ScorecardRob Key made his highest List A score•Getty Images

Rob Key led the way with a buccaneering 144 not out as Kent maintained their challenge in Group A of the Yorkshire Bank 40 by crushing Netherlands by eight wickets on the first day of the 101st Tunbridge Wells festival week.Kent made short work of overhauling Netherlands’ competitive 249 for 5, earning themselves an important victory 24 hours after they had thrown away the chance of beating Sussex at Horsham in a nervy run chase.But there was no mistake this time as Key, with the support of Sam Northeast and Brendan Nash, made sure of Kent’s fourth win in six matches.Key dominated an opening stand of 115 with Northeast, who chopped on to slow left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar for 35 in the 18th over, and was then joined by Nash in a further partnership worth 89 in 13 overs. Nash hit six fours in a 38-ball 57 and Kent had already gone past 200 in the 30th over when he skied a catch to deep mid-on off Michael Swart’s darting offspin.But Key stayed to the end, clubbing Malik Jamil for six wide of long-on and also including 19 fours in a 121-ball effort that was his highest List A score and the seventh one-day hundred of his career.The Dutch batted well after captain Peter Borren had won the toss on a sunny but breezy day at the Nevill Ground. A home crowd of more than 2,000 watched with increasing anxiety as Netherlands steadily accelerated their scoring rate, reaching 150 only in the 28th over and then taking the attack to the Kent bowlers.Wesley Barresi and Tom Cooper both hit assured fifties in a third wicket stand of 95 in 19 overs and, when they were out, Dom Michael struck three sixes and four fours in a 40-ball 51 not out and was joined by Daan van Bunge and Borren in a burst of productive late hitting that exposed Kent’s lack of experienced death bowlers.Netherlands’ innings had begun badly, with Swart under-edging an intended pull against Matt Coles into his stumps and Stephan Myburgh falling lbw to Calum Haggett, who had replaced the injured Mark Davies in the Kent line-up.Barresi and Cooper then rebuilt the innings, reaching half-centuries from 59 and 58 balls respectively, before Barresi was bowled by a ball from offspinner Adam Riley that kept low. He made 69 from 83 balls, with nine fours, and Cooper soon followed for 54, caught by keeper Geraint Jones from a James Tredwell arm ball.A brilliant sprawling catch by Adam Ball, running around from short third man to take a swirling top edge off a short ball from Coles, ended Van Bunge’s bright 28, but Michael and Borren plundered 51 from the last 4.2 overs of the innings to set Kent a challenging target but one to which Key was more than equal.Netherlands now have three defeats and two no results in their five YB40 matches this season.

Mervyn Westfield wants to help the next generation of cricketers avoid making the mistakes he made

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2013Mervyn Westfield, the former Essex seamer who was jailed for his part in spot-fixing during 2009 and launched an angry attack on his treatment by English cricket earlier this year, now wants to help the next generation of cricketers avoid repeating the mistakes he made.Westfield received a five-year ban for his involvement in conceding a set number of runs off an over in a Pro40 match against Durham in 2009, after being “cajoled” by Danish Kaneria who remains banned for life after his appeal failed.However, Westfield’s punishment has been relaxed a little following an appeal hearing yesterday and he will now be able to play club cricket from April 1, 2014, although he remains banned for the professional level until 2017. The amendment to Westfield’s ban came with the condition that he fully cooperates with the Professional Cricketers’ Association anti-corruption work.”I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” Westfield said in a statement released by the PCA. “I just want to put it right and help identify the clear dangers that exist. Cricket has been my life since I was six, and it’s all I know, what I love, and what I live for. I have missed playing so much.””I hope people can forgive my actions and maybe even find it in themselves to understand how difficult I’ve found it to cope with every step of this affair,” he said. “I will now do all I can to help PCA and others to educate cricketers, especially young ones, to ensure nobody has to go through what I have.”Westfield’s desire to now help the PCA is a distinct change to his attitude earlier in the year when he was furious at being forced to appear at Kaneria’s appeal hearing and claimed he had not been helped enough since the details of spot-fixing emerged.”No one else has given me any support despite all the promises a year ago,” he said in April. “I am here to bring to an end the pain and suffering that I am forced to continuously suffer, and in the hope that after today my family and I will never be subjected to the humiliation and hurt we have gone through in the last three years.”Earlier on Wednesday, Kaneria reacted angrily to his life ban being upheld and said that because Westfield’s punishment has been softened somewhat that he should have been allowed a chance to resume his career.

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo and fast bowler Tino Best said the outcome of the fifth ODI in St Lucia, and of the series, may have been different if some umpiring decisions had gone in favour of the hosts

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2013West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo and fast bowler Tino Best have said the outcome of the fifth ODI in St Lucia, and of the series, may have been different if some ‘key’ umpiring decisions had gone in favour of the hosts.”The matches could have gone either way. Even today a few key decisions went against us,” Dwayne Bravo said, after Pakistan beat the West Indies by four wickets in the final ODI. “We can’t fault the effort of the players. The series could have gone our way if some key decisions had gone our way.”Best, too, shared a similar opinion in a post-match interview with , where he said that the third umpire’s decision in favour of Misbah-ul-Haq could have changed the game. In the 43rd over, West Indies appealed after Misbah appeared to have gloved a Best bouncer going down the leg side. Misbah was on 49 at the time and Pakistan would have needed 53 off 46 if he had been given out. West Indies referred the decision after the on-field umpire turned down the appeal, a decision backed by the third umpire who had to rely on video and sound replays. Earlier in the match, Darren Bravo was given out after a similar appeal.”We had a plan for Misbah-ul-Haq. Unfortunately, the decision didn’t go our way, otherwise it would have changed the game,” Best said.For Pakistan, the victory was their third successive bilateral series win against West Indies in the Caribbean. Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored his fourth fifty in five matches to set up the 3-1 triumph, praised his bowlers for responding to the challenge of bowling first under pressure.”A win is always good, especially after the losses in [the] South Africa series and Champions Trophy,” Misbah said. “I knew this pitch was really good to bat on, and if we kept batting till the end, nothing was impossible. The bowling has obviously been our strength. Everybody bowled really well, which was the key in this win. Always tough to bowl first, especially in pressure games like this, but everybody was really positive that we were going to chase well.”Bravo praised his team for their performance in a closely fought series, while admitting that he was still adapting to the role of a leader. “If you bowl well, 242 was going to be a challenging total,” Bravo said. “I liked how we believed right until the end. Those key decisions at crucial times cost us. A learning process to me, a new role for me. With the talent we have, I enjoy leading the team. We can’t turn things around overnight, but with the talent we have we can become a very dangerous team.”Best, who finished with figures of 3 for 48 was happy with the manner in which he dismissed the Pakistan batsmen. “With [Ahmed] Shehzad, I just tried to hit the deck. He plays the hook and pull shots well. But I backed myself. Bravo took a brilliant catch and that gave me a lot of confidence and impetus to run in even harder. Haris Sohail was always going to be beaten for pace, so that was a good nick as well and Umar Akmal at the end, I think I bowled one bad ball which he hit for six, which swung things their way, but I came back and got his wicket. I feel good about those wickets because they are very good players.”