Pakistan are a good team in the shortest format of the game, but they will have to be at their best to beat world champions West Indies in the first T20 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Sunday. The two teams are set for a four-match T20 series, and with both teams having some brilliant T20 cricketers, the series is evenly poised.
Read: Marlon Samuels wants to join Pakistan Army
Though Pakistan might not have played much T20 cricket of late, their cricketers have played decent number of matches in the Pakistan Super League. Some of the solid performers from the PSL also got the national call over their performance in the league. But, playing for the nation is a different ball game altogether.
Pakistan's pace attack look incredibly strong with the likes of Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir and Hasan Ali among others. With batsmen such as Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran Akmal in the line-up, they look a balanced unit for the first T20. The players will hope to make good use of the batting surface at Kensington Oval.
Pakistan will hope to play some solid cricket under the leadership of Sarfaraz Ahmed, who will be keen to score runs and lead from the front.
West Indies also have experienced players in their squad for the first match, but they will need their skipper Carlos Brathwaite to fire on all cylinders. He has not been able to score runs after taking up captaincy.
They will need their senior cricketers like Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard to do most of the scoring. West Indies will count on the openers, mainly Evin Lewis, to give them a good start. They have two quality spinners in Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree, who can run through any batting line up.
Pakistan and West Indies look equally-balanced.
Where to watch live
West Indies vs Pakistan 1st T20 is scheduled for 12.30 local time, 9.30 pm Pakistan time, 4.30 GMT, 10 pm IST. Here is the live tv and streaming options below.
India - TV: Ten 1, Ten 3 HD.
Pakistan: TV: PTV Sports. Live streaming: PTV Sports live
UK: TV:Sky Sports. Live Streaming: Sky Go
