Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd ODI at Sharjah, , Oct 02 2016 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11.05pm That wraps up a comprehensive win for Pakistan. They win the series as a result, with one to play. Another superb day for them, and they in fact did a few things better than in the first ODI. To start off, they made use of the good platform laid upfront and made sure to finish strongly, unlike in the previous match, where they lost some significant ground. The innings, of course, was built on the back of the partnership between Babar Azam, who sweated his way to his second consecutive century, and Shoaib Malik, as well as the late fireworks from Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan's ground fielding was top notch but they spilled way too many catches. But the cushion of runs helped them prevail.

The big victory margin means they won't exactly be sweating over it, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed, nonetheless. But all in all, a fine performance. It was always going to be hard for West Indies to bounce back once they were batted out of the contest. A 3-0 sweep will, in all likelihood help Pakistan displace West Indies, currently No. 8, in the ODI rankings.

Presentation:

Azhar Ali: It was a wonderful team effort. We needed a partnership after losing two wickets in three balls. Azam and Malik set the base with intelligent batting; they assessed the conditions well. It was a perfect innings from both of them. Everyone is fired up because we know every game is important. We've made a lot of improvements, but could have had a perfect game had we taken our catches.

Babar Azam is the Man of the Man for his scintillating century. "I wanted to play out the overs. That was the target given to me by the coach, and I'm happy to have achieved it," he says. "There was not much pressure on me because of the way Shoaib Malik played. Fitness is important to play in weather like this."

Jason Holder: It's obviously an improved performance, but we would have been better off, perhaps chasing a smaller total had we avoided giving away boundary balls. It was difficult to come in and hit from ball one. The likes of Wahab and Amir made it difficult for our hitters. There's still something to play for. Points are very close, so every win counts.