Pakistan v West Indies ODI Series




Game One: 11:00 GMT 12/11/2008
Game Two: 11:00 GMT 14/11/2008
Game Three: 11:00 16/11/2008

Weather

Please Note: All games are Day / Night fixtures

After what seems like an eternity, Pakistan finally return to International Cricket with a three match series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

Fresh from winning a cool $1m per man a little over a week ago, the West Indies will be relaxed and super confident. And they are not a bad side at all. Ok so they recently lost 5-0 at home to Australia, but it could have been very different had a few slices of luck gone their way, and had they not suffered from their famous “Callypso Collapso” that is now just starting to be more than a thorn in their side.

However, the West Indies will be at pretty much full strength for this mini series, and one can expect them to be buoyant, and feeling pretty happy with life and that is when these boys play their best cricket. The only problem could be how motivated are they? They are all millionaires now – will that have much of an effect? Well, they are all professionals and are out there to do a job, and they can do that job knowing full well the pressure is off of them financially, and I think we will see a side enjoying their cricket, and for their opponents, well they will have to be at their best to enjoy success here.

West Indies will go into this series with the explosive Chris Gayle opening with XM Marshall, who recently smashed the world record for number of sixes scored in an innings, and in the middle order they will have the experience of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, aided and abetted by Shawn Findlay, who impressed in the recent Stanford Series, but then they are a little thin on the ground. Brendan Nash, Carlton Baugh, Darren Powell and Nikita Miller are likely to be the lower middle order. The batting looks a little thin on the ground, and once again they will be heavily reliant upon Chanderpaul and Sarwan.

Pakistan on the other hand will be chomping at the bit to play competitive cricket, having had home fixtures against New Zealand and Australia postponed at the last minute due to security reasons. As a result they have only played five ODI’s in the whole of 2008, have lost Coach Geoff Lawson and world No1 Mohhamed Yousef (ICL). On the other side of the coin though, they welcome back the services of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is reported as being 100% fit for the first time since, well, since forever.

Pakistan are likely to go with Salman Butt to open the innings with either Imran Nazir or Kamran Akmal, then a powerful middle order of Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Misbah Ul Haq and the comical Shahid Afridi.

The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has a history of producing lots of runs and being a bit of a belter. Pakistan scored 313 here against Sri Lanka earlier in the year, whilst Shahid Afridi will have fond memories of taking a huge 32 off of a single Malinga Bandara over in the same tournament. The average first innings score here is a shade over 250, so bear that in mind if looking at the runs markets in play.

Chris Gayle has been quoted as saying "This is our first time (here) and the team is eager to do well on foreign soil. We believe this could be the start of a very good away tour. Pakistan is a good cricket team and it will be a challenge for us, but we will be fighting hard against them all the way." Whilst Pakistan acknowledge that this is a very important mini series for them, as they welcome India after this, and going into that series anything short    of their best, and they will be punished.

We all know that honeymoon periods can be a funny thing, and Pakistan will be in one here, whilst the West Indies will be still dreaming of their millions.

Recommended Bet: 2 point on Pakistan to win the series at 1.61 with Stan James.

Good Luck!

Paul