West Indies look to avoid whitewash in UAE

Bet on Pakistan to be unpredictable. For a side that has struggled to come to terms with the challenges of batting in limited-overs cricket over the last few years, they have displayed two clinical performances to beat 2016 ICC World Twenty20 champions West Indies and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series.

In the absence of T20 veterans Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell, West Indies seemed like a worn out outfit in the first two matches, in Dubai. While the batsmen struggled against the spin of Imad Wasim, the fielding too seemed uninspiring.

Carlos Brathwaite, who made a good start to his national captaincy stint with a series win against India in USA, has looked clueless with his bowling changes and field placements against Pakistan. On the other hand, his counterpart Sarfaraz Ahmed has maintained his winning streak. The contrasting fortunes of the two also has a lot to do with the form of the youngsters in their ranks. While the likes of Babar Azam, Khalid Latif and Wasim have shone in the opportunities that came their way, the likes of Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran have failed to grab on to their chances.

The issue isn't only with the youngsters, even experienced players like Marlon Samuels and Andre Fletcher haven't done well with the bat. Keeping a check on big shots and instead relying on working the ball around gaps isn't something that the muscled line-up of West Indies is best known for. Their inability to adopt to the conditions has been their biggest let down in this series. However, with a two-day rest, the team management would've had some time to reassess their plans and also lift the morale of the players.

With the third T20I being played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, batting will be slightly easier than it was in Dubai. Nonetheless, no team knows the art of pacing the innings in UAE better than Pakistan. The success of the top order - Sharjeel Khan, Azam and Latif - in the Pakistan Super League has translated in international cricket, with Sarfaraz and Shoaib Malik offering good support in the middle order.

On the bowling front, Imad and Sohail Tanvir used their Caribbean Premier League experience to good effect and caused quite a bit of discomfort to the West Indian batsmen. However, erratic bowling by Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali left Mickey Arthur, Pakistan's coach, fuming even as victory was in sight in the last match. The hosts might look to include Mohammad Amir, who was rested in the first two matches, for the final encounter.

When: Pakistan vs West Indies, 3rd T20I on September 27 at 8:00 PM Local, 9.30 PM IST

Where: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

What to expect: The weather forecast predicts a warm day, with an average temperature of 33 degree Celcius. The humidity is expected to be around 72%.

What they said:

"It was our strategy to play Umar Akmal at No. 6, since we needed a finisher in the lower order... A lot of credit goes to Shoaib Malik too, the way he played with me at the end. We needed a senior player to stay at the wicket and he did that for us." - Sarfaraz Ahmed

"We are an aggressive exciting team, when it comes off it looks fine, but you have days like these when it doesn't come off. There is no blame to point, we had a slow start and we lost the game. We keep our chin up, move forward, and look ahead to tomorrow's game." - Carlos Brathwaite

Did you know?

- If Pakistan win the final T20I, it will be the fourth instance of a team winning 3-0 in a series.

- Imad Wasim has taken 12 wickets at an average of 15.40 and an economy rate of 4.33 in his last five T20s.

- Samuel Badree needs four wickets to reach 150 wickets in T20s.

Squads:

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c&wk), Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Saad Nasim, Rumman Raees, Hasan Ali, Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz

West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher (wk), Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams.