As “You miss, I hit” flashed in neon lights and Ceefax-like text on the Abu Dhabi scorecard it gave the perfect analogy for the T20I series between Pakistan and West Indies in the UAE.
Quite simply, Pakistan has proved a hit, West Indies a glaring miss.
One has been rampant, setting new standards for their cricket in the shortest format, the other seemingly plummeting to new depths.
And just 14 balls into the third and final T20I, both sides perfectly played their parts as the scoreboard showed.
Once again Imad Wasim brought about the early breakthrough as Johnson Charles stuck to his guns with an ugly swipe across the line that saw him bowled. Chadwick Walton, in his third T20I and first of the series, lasted just one delivery and was bowled next ball by Imad.
Superb throughout the series, Imad has been ruthlessly consistent by neither deviating from the script or the pitch.
His hugely successful policy, so loudly acknowledged by the scoreboard, has seen him bowl five of his nine victims and trap another lbw to highlight the value in bowling straight at the top of the innings against a team playing shots by numbers.
It was a problem West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite acknowledged in the build-up to the previous two encounters but he kept reiterating the fact that his batsmen would not be asked to change their ways. And, to their detriment, they didn’t.
Their continuing confusion was being illustrated throughout the innings. First of all perfectly so by Andre Fletcher as he and Marlon Samuels nearly shook hands before the former slipped after being sent back and was run-out by a distance.
It was another example of how woeful their top order has been throughout this series. They have not given themselves a chance early on, losing wickets at will.
In eighteen combined powerplay overs they have managed just 71 runs and lost ten wickets. You simply cannot give your team a chance of winning if you score so little runs and commit so many fatal mistakes.
Throughout the series, West Indies has looked a team drifting along without guidance and a number of their biggest names.
One that has featured is Dwayne Bravo, who has been unchallenged by his team-mates as the West Indies’ best batsmen. But even he could not salvage their terror start here, doing the popular thing and getting bowled by an Imad straight one.
By the time the tourists were 66-5 another forgettable milestone had been reached with the third time in succession that they’ve been five down without reaching three figures highlighting both their struggles with the bat and Pakistan’s success with the ball.
The additions of Mohammad Amir and Rumman Raees for Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali depicted the strength in depth the hosts currently boast as Pakistan restricted West Indies to just 103-5 from their 20 overs.
On a very good batting track, with a vast outfield to milk, it was some way below par.
West Indies needed early wickets to stand any chance of avoiding the series whitewash but Pakistan took up the initiative immediately.
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif helped them race to 36-1 by the time Sharjeel handed Kesrick Williams his first international wicket on debut. Williams followed it up by removing Latif in the same over, offering West Indies a rare positive to take from an otherwise abysmal series with his 2-15 from four overs.
Pakistan barely broke sweat otherwise on a practically mild evening compared to the previous two matches played in the dripping humidity of Dubai.
They weren’t required to get out of gear, able to roll down the hill in neutral at an effortless pace towards their meagre target.
Shoaib Malik (43*) and Babar Azam (27*) did the necessary, seeing their side home at a canter to wrap up a convincing series whitewash with eight wickets and 29 balls left in the bank.
1 / 11
2 / 11
3 / 11
4 / 11
5 / 11
6 / 11
7 / 11
8 / 11
9 / 11
10 / 11
11 / 11
