Prior to their series-deciding third Twenty20 match against the West Indies, Pakistan suffered a significant blow when veteran top-order batsman Fakhar Zaman was sidelined with a strained left hamstring. He will also miss the forthcoming three-match ODI series in Trinidad due to the injury he got during the second Twenty20 International at Lauderhill. The visitors, however, came back hard to win the third Twenty20 International by 13 runs and to clinch the T20I series 1-2.
Fakhar Zaman was chasing a ball in the outfield when he was injured in the 19th over of the second Twenty20 International. A minor strain to his left hamstring was confirmed by a medical evaluation. On August 4, the 35-year-old will return to Pakistan and start his recuperation at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where he will be supervised by medical professionals from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Despite failing to turn his starts into significant contributions, Fakhar Zaman had a respectable batting performance, scoring 28 and 20 in the two Twenty20 Internationals. The southpaw was disqualified from the Champions Trophy earlier this year due to an injury. Saim Ayub, who had also had a similar injury while fielding, had been replaced by Fakhar in that squad at the time.
A replacement for Fakhar Zaman in the ODI team has not yet been announced by the PCB.
In the third Twenty20 International in Lauderhill, Pakistan put up a strong show to defeat the West Indies by 13 runs and won the series 2-1, even though Zaman was not there and Shaheen Afridi was left out.
The visitors, who had won the toss and were batting first, scored 189/4 thanks to half-centuries from openers Sahibzada Farhan (74 off 53) and Saim Ayub (66 off 49). Pakistan had a significant lead thanks to their opening partnership of 138 runs. Hasan Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf’s cameos enabled the squad to surpass 180.
Despite strong efforts from Sherfane Rutherford (51 off 35) and Alick Athanaze (60 off 40), West Indies lost the chase. With one wicket apiece from Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Ayub, the West Indies were held to 176/6 in 20 overs. Now, on August 8, the teams will take a plane to Trinidad for the ODI portion of the tour.
India
