West Indies Hope to Keep Series Alive

Barbados: Darren Sammy's team trails 0-2, and unless they improve dramatically on two inept performances, Pakistan will secure the series with two games to spare.

Ahmed Shehzad has thanked the Pakistan management team for showing confidence in him following his World Cup calamity which almost cost him a trip to the Caribbean.

The 19-year-old opening batsman was speaking after he made 102 - his second one-day international - to lead Pakistan to a seven-wicket victory over West Indies on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Shehzad failed to score consistently in five matches in the World Cup, and was dropped, leading to questions about his place in the squad for the tour of the Caribbean.

But the Pakistan selectors and the team management continued to show faith in him and Monday's hundred was a down-payment on that investment.

Shehzad has become the latest player to hail the visitors' limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi for instilling a sense of self-belief and self-confidence in him.

Afridi was naturally happy to see Shehzad find his feet again, and believes he has a bright future.

Pakistan will now focus on winning the third ODI on Thursday at Kensington Oval here, and take an unbeatable lead in the series.

The Pakistanis have outplayed West Indies in every department, with their spin bowlers in particular finding the conditions in St. Lucia so favourable they restricted the home team to modest totals of 221 for six and 220 all out, and their batting hardly troubled by the hosts' tame attack of which Devendra Bishoo has taken four of the five wickets that have fallen.

West Indies, on the other hand, have stunned observers by resisting the urge to tamper with their squad, and have named an unchanged roster for the match.

They will continue the struggle without Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, and now fast bowler Jerome Taylor - all at the Indian Premier League - while Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and beanpole left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn have been overlooked again.

Although Fidel Edwards is fit again and played in the West Indies first-class championship for his native Barbados, it is felt that he may be eased back into the game, and will likely return for the two Tests that follow the ODI series.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy was under no illusions about the enormity of the task that confronts his side, but stressed they had to seize the tight moments.

"We weren't rolled over," he said. "We kept ourselves in the matches right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn't make it happen.

We have to find a way to make it happen for us. We have to find a way to win those tight situations.

Sammy remained confident that West Indies could stage a fight-back in Barbados with a victory.

Teams from

West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Anthony Martin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith.

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Hammad Azman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Salman (wk), Sadaf Hussain, Saeed Ajmal, Tanveer Ahmed, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Akmal, Usman Salahuddin, Wahab Riaz.

Pitch and conditions
The pitch at the Beausejour Stadium had surprised Sammy, who did not think it would aid spin as much as it did. The Kensington Oval surface should be better for batting, but thundery showers are forecast for Thursday.

Stats and trivia

• Marlon Samuels scored 16 runs off 67 balls against Pakistan's spinners in the first two one-day internationals.
• West Indies have won two and lost two of the four ODIs they've played at Kensington Oval, over the last five years
• Pakistan have played only one ODI in Bridgetown, in 2000 and they won by 17 runs.

Match facts
Thursday April 28, 2011
Start time 0930 local (1330 GMT)