World Cup 2019, WI vs Pak: 3 mistakes which cost Pakistan the game

In the second match of the World Cup 2019, West Indies registered a convincing 7-wicket win over Pakistan. This was a match between two of the most unpredictable teams in the tournament so it was not easy to predict the result of this match. But it was not a close match as Windies humiliated Pakistan.

Earlier, Jason Holder won the toss and elected to field first. Pakistan got off to a horrible start as they lost both openers early. Babar Azam played some good shots as he looked in good nick but once he lost his wicket, Pakistan completely lost the plot. Their innings collapsed as Pakistan was all out for just 105.

Defending a target of 106 was never going to be easy. Pakistan needed early wickets but Chris Gayle provided the Windies with a great start as he scored a brilliant half century. Mohammad Amir picked three wickets but it was never going to be enough. Eventually, Windies chased down the target with 36.2 overs to spare as they opened their campaign with a bang.

Here we look at the 3 mistakes that Pakistan made in this game:

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#1 Inability to play the short ball

West Indies bowled exceedingly well

The great West Indian teams in the past have terrorized batsmen with some chin music. Today, the bowlers from the Caribbean came with the same plan to expose the Pakistani batsmen. Traditionally, Asian batsmen are known to struggle against the short ball so it was clear that Jason Holder and his men came with a plan.

Earlier in the year, these Pakistani batsmen's inability to tackle the short ball had been exposed. It seems that they had failed to address that chink in their armour as Sarfaraz and Co. were like sitting ducks in front of the short ball.

This inability to play the short ball cost them the match as the batting line-up fully collapsed. The team management would have a lot of thinking to do in order to tackle the short ball in the coming matches.

#2 Poor shot selection

The choice of shot selection was not good from Pakistan

Windies definitely came out with a set plan to bombard Pakistani batsmen with short balls. The pitch had bounce which encouraged the bowlers to hit the deck hard to make it tough for the batsmen. This is when the batsman should have applied himself on the crease before going for their shots.

The likes of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam should have tried to play a big inning. But the set batsmen went for the wrong shots at the wrong time which didn't help the cause of Pakistan. Mohammad Hafeez was looking decent at the crease and needed some support from the other end.

Imad Wasim and Hasan Ali should have applied themselves at the crease as well but both of them got out playing rash shots. The shot played by Hasan Ali raised quite a few eyebrows as he tried to slog the ball without even settling at the crease. To go deep in the tournament, Pakistan batsmen must improve their shot selection.

#3 Not building enough partnerships

Lack of partnership cost them a game

To put a good score on the board you need some of your batsmen to step up and build big partnerships in the middle. This is where Pakistan batsmen failed as none of the batsmen managed to play big innings. Only Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam looked good on the crease but they lost their wickets cheaply.

Fakhar Zaman was looking good on the crease as he had raced to 22 runs off 16 balls. He decided to take on a short ball bowled by Andre Russell but the ball came a bit too quickly. He only managed to glove it and was unlucky as the ball deflected off his helmet to hit the stumps.

Babar Azam was the only Pakistani batsman who looked comfortable against the short ball. But he tried to play one shot too many as he was caught behind, trying to cut a short aball.