On a damp evening at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, the West Indies found composure in the calm hands of Roston Chase, whose unbeaten 49 guided the hosts to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in a rain-affected second ODI, levelling the series 1–1.
The match had already been shaped by the weather before a ball was bowled, with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method trimming the home side’s chase to 181 in 35 overs. But when Hasan Ali ripped through both openers inside the first three overs, leaving the scoreboard at a modest 12-2, Pakistan looked poised to seize control.
The early blows were compounded when Abrar Ahmed trapped Keacy Carty for a laboured 16 from 42 deliveries, and the West Indies were wobbling at 48-3. The mood changed abruptly when captain Shai Hope joined Sherfane Rutherford. In a burst of power-hitting, Rutherford plundered three sixes and four boundaries in successive overs from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Ali Agha, racking up 37 runs in just 12 balls.
Their 54-run stand threatened to tilt the contest, but Mohammad Nawaz struck back, removing both Hope (32) and Rutherford (45) within the space of three overs. At 108-5, the West Indies still required 73 runs from 78 deliveries, and the game hung in the balance.
It was then that Chase, unhurried and precise, found an ideal ally in Justin Greaves. The pair absorbed 29 boundary-less balls at the outset of their stand before Chase broke free with back-to-back sixes in the 27th over, prising 16 runs from Saim Ayub and easing the required rate. From there, they never looked back, collecting at least one boundary in almost every remaining over. The unbeaten 77-run partnership carried the hosts home with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, Pakistan’s innings had been equally staccato, disrupted by showers and disciplined bowling. Jayden Seales removed Saim Ayub (23) and Babar Azam (0) in the same over, before Pakistan’s middle order produced a string of starts without converting them into something more telling. Hussain Talat’s 31 and Abdullah Shafique’s 26 were useful without being decisive, and when Salman Ali Agha fell cheaply, the tourists were 114-6.
Hasan Nawaz’s spirited 36 not out from 30 balls — including three sixes — along with a brief cameo from Shaheen Shah Afridi pushed the score to 171-7 from 37 overs before rain ended the innings prematurely. Seales finished with 3-23 from his seven overs, while Chase, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, and Jediah Blades chipped in with a wicket apiece.
For Pakistan, Nawaz’s miserly 2-17 and Hasan Ali’s early strikes offered moments of hope, but Chase’s measured finish ensured the hosts will head into the series decider on 12 August with renewed confidence.
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