ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Score: West Indies Edge Pakistan in Low-Scoring Thriller

Two young unpredictable sides, filled with talented batsmen capable of finding the boundaries at will. So, one would think a definite high-scoring match then.

Well, not quite. In one of the most attritional one-day matches you will see, the West Indies did enough, just enough, to scrape past Pakistan by two-wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

The Oval witnessed a nail-biter, just not one where each team scored above 300 runs; instead Pakistan, after being put into bat, were bowled out for 170 from 48 overs, and they reached that total only because of a brilliant unbeaten 96 from skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

In reply, the West Indies made heavy weather of the chase, with the Pakistani bowlers refusing to give in, as the Caribbean side eventually reached the target with plenty of balls, but just two wickets to spare, finishing on 172 for eight in 40.4 overs.

The chase was far from straightforward for the West Indies with the Pakistani bowlers making the batsmen work for every single run.

Just like Pakistan, West Indies also lost two early wickets with Johnson Charles and Darren Bravo losing their wickets within the fifth over.

Mohammad Irfan was in the mood for Pakistan, making the ball spit from a good length constantly and troubling almost every single West Indies batsman.

Charles (9) holed out to Wahab Riaz while trying to fend off a bouncer from Irfan, while Darren Bravo received a near unplayable delivery, which jumped up from nowhere to take an outside edge.

Irfan (three for 32) was well backed up by Junaid Khan at the other end and then later Wahab Riaz, with the two off-spinners - Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez -- also doing their jobs admirably.

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels steadied the nerves a little bit, combining for 63 runs for the third wicket, with Gayle not exactly at his imperious boundary-hitting best, instead using his experience to slowly but surely close in on the target.

The butterflies in the stomachs of the West Indians were brought back a little once Gayle (39, 47b, 4x4, 1x6) fell - bowled by a brilliant Doosra from Ajmal (two for 38).

Ramnaresh Sarwan followed suit immediately after caught behind by Kamran Akmal off Wahab Riaz (two for 42) from another delivery that reared up, while Samuels' 57-ball 30-run (3x4) stay was ended by Hafeez.

That brought Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo to the crease and the all-rounders allied for 43 runs from 10.2 overs, to take the score to 137 and inch their side to the total.

Pollard, like Gayle, was also restrictive in his shot-making, making 30 from 58 balls (3x4, 1x6) before catching an outside edge to another spitfire delivery from Riaz.

Dwayne Bravo had a bit of a brain freeze in the next over, going for an expansive sweep but missing it completely to find himself trapped himself in front of the stumps by Ajmal.

The West Indies needed 28 runs from 13.1 overs, but with only three wickets in hand with Denesh Ramdin and Sunil Narine at the crease. The two batsmen brought the target down to six, before Irfan again picked up a crucial wicket - of Narine - to keep Pakistan's hopes alive by a whisker.

The equation was simple - two wickets for Pakistan and six runs for West Indies, which the latter won with Kemar Roach, the man of the match, fittingly finishing things off with a boundary.

Earlier, Pakistan reached 170 only because of one man - their skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

It went pear-shaped for the Pakistanis right from the off with opener Imran Farhat falling in the last ball of the first over.

Kemar Roach was the pick of the bowlers along with Sunil Narine, and the West Indies fast bowler accounted for Farhat, who found a healthy edge off a nothing shot with skipper Bravo snatching the catch out of Chris Gayle's grasp in the slips.

Two more wickets fell in quick succession for Pakistan, as Mohammad Hafeez (4) played down the wrong line to see his timber disturbed by the excellent Roach.

Asad Shafiq joined the Hafeez in the pavilion a few balls later for a duck, with Roach (three for 28) again doing the damage, inducing a lofted cut from the right-hander straight to Ravi Rampaul at third man.

Then came the biggest partnership from Pakistan between Misbah and Nasir Jamshed, which raised hopes of a solid final score.

Pakistan went from 15 for three to 105 as the two batsmen patiently brought their side back into the game - Bravo, who promised to be a proactive captain, probably should have been more aggressive and forced Pakistan's hand a little more, which could have led to a bigger struggle from the batting side.

Jamshed reached his 50 in 90 balls in the final ball of the 29^th over, but a delivery later all the hard work was undone when the batsman threw it away with a poor shot which went straight down the throat of Rampaul at long-off off Narine.

From there it was absolute carnage as the West Indies bowlers ran riot with the Pakistani batsmen handing them the wickets on a plate - a meek surrender it certainly was.

Shoaib Malik, off late more famous for being Sania Mirza's husband than through his exploits on the cricket field, fell for a golden duck in the same over from Narine, as Pakistan, in the blink of an eye, went from 115 for three to 138 for nine, losing six wickets for just 23 runs.

There were two run outs in there - of Wahab Riaz and Saeed Ajmal - with Narine (three for 34) making merry with three wickets of his own.

Misbah refused to go down without a fight, however, allying for 32 runs for the final wicket with Mohammad Irfan to push the total to some semblance of respectability, as the partisan Pakistan crowd roared their skipper on.

The Pakistan skipper handled the No.11 batsman Irfan really well, refusing numerous singles, while taking on the West Indies bowling, smoking a couple of sixes as well in the process as he edged closer to a richly deserved hundred.

The inevitable was just around the corner, though, as Rampaul finally dismissed Irfan, who stood his ground for 14 deliveries, with Misbah stranded on 96 (127b, 5x4, 3x6).