Sacking of Simmons, Sammy hurting Windies, says Waqar

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, (CMC) — Former Pakistan speedster, Waqar Younis, believes the dramatic sacking of West In

dies Head Coach Phil Simmons on the eve of the ongoing tour, has had a negative impact on the Caribbean side’s performance.

West Indies looked a shadow of themselves in the Twenty20 International series and were stunned 3-0 by Pakistan, and also suffered a heavy 111-run defeat in the opening One-Day International of the three-match series here last Friday.

And Waqar, who took 373 wickets in 87 Tests, said the uncharacteristically poor showing, especially in the T20s, was a sign that Simmons’ axing, and that of inspirational Captain Darren Sammy, had left the side in disarray.

Windball cricket better organised than WICB ...says disturbed Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo said on Saturday that the current players representing the West Indies against Pakistan is a lost group with many believing that windball cricket is better organised than what they are experiencing with the Caribbean team in Dubai.

“I was there in Dubai and basically the players were lost, the management team was lost, everything just looked like we were school kids again, and the team meetings had no sort of positive inputs or anything like that. It was like we were just there,” an obviously hurt Bravo stated.

Bravo said that while individually the West Indies players were always motivated, the events leading up to the team leaving the Caribbean disturbed the entire momentum of the squad.

“The honest truth is that it is very difficult for a bunch of 15 guys to really switch on when they are leaving for a series and the day of the team travelling they find out that their head coach (Phil Simmons) was fired. Like which organisation in the world would do things like that? This was a coach that had the support of the entire team and one of the best coaches we have had and he has done so much in a short period. Everyone knows that, and we were making positives,” stated Bravo.

read more at Trinidad Guardian

Ton-up Babar Azam anchors Pakistan's series win

SHARJAH: Fast-rising Babar Azam cracked a second successive hundred to guide Pakistan to a dominant 59-run win over the West Indies in the second one-day international in Sharjah, gaining an unbeatable 2-0 lead in three-match series.

Azam's brilliant 126-ball 123 formed the cornerstone of Pakistan's imposing 337-5 which also featured half-centuries from Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed.

West Indies finished on 278-7 from their 50 overs with Darren Bravo hitting 61 and Marlon Samuels scoring 57.

The final match will be in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“It was a wonderful team effort,” said Pakistan captain Azhar Ali.

“We needed a good partnership after losing two early wickets and Azam and Malik gave that to us with pace and wisdom.” West Indian captain Jason Holder rued his team's bad bowling.