Andre Russell stars as West Indies thrash Pakistan

CHRISTCHURCH: Pakistan suffered their second consecutive loss as they were handed a crushing 150-run defeat by the West Indies who rode on Andre Russell's all-round show in a completely one-sided cricket World Cup match here today. Russell smashed 42 runs of just 13 balls at the fag end of West Indies innings, hitting three fours and four sixes, after half centuries from Denesh Ramdin (51) and Lendl Simmons (50) to help his side score a challenging 310 for 6 after being put into bat. He then grabbed three wickets for 33 runs as the West Indies bundled Pakistan out for 160 in 39 overs to post a massive win at the Hagley Oval.

Pakistan, on the other hand, dished out a listless performance in all departments of the game to slump to their second defeat in the showpiece tournament. They had lost to arch-rivals India by 76 runs in their campaign opener on February 15. Opting to field after winning the toss, Pakistan let the West Indies off the hook after reducing them to 28 for 2 as the Caribbeans cruised to 310 for 6 by scoring 115 runs in the final 10 overs. Butter-fingered Pakistan fielders put down four catches while their bowlers, except Mohammad Irfan (1/44) and Shahid Afridi (0/48), bled runs at nearly seven an over before their batsmen produced the worst ever start to fold up for 160.

Pakistan's hopes of chasing the stiff target virtually ended in 3.1 overs as by then they had lost four wickets for just one run in an unbelievable show of spineless batting. The loss will put Pakistan in a difficult position to qualify for the knock-out stage from seven-team Group B. In the process, Pakistan dished out the worst batting show ever by top four batsmen of any team in an ODI, surpassing four wickets for four runs by Canada against Zimbabwe at Port of Spain in a tri-series match.

Only Umar Akmal (59), Sohaib Maqsood (50) and Shahid Afridi (28) could give some resistance against a disciplined bowling display by the West Indians. Pacer Jerome Taylor rocked the Pakistan top-order by grabbing three wickets for 15 runs while left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn took two wickets. Captain Jason Holder and Darren Sammy chipped in with a wicket each.