On a day when he shone with the ball, Jason Holder capped it off with the bat—smashing a boundary off the final ball to end West Indies’ losing streak in T20Is and secure a thrilling win over Pakistan.
West Indies needed four runs off the last delivery. As Shaheen Shah Afridi charged in to bowl, Holder shuffled across the crease, moving outside off-stump. Afridi tried to bowl it out of reach, but the delivery drifted further and was called a wide. That slightly tilted the equation in West Indies’ favor. Two runs could’ve taken the game to a Super Over, but Holder wasn’t playing for a draw. He smoked the final delivery for four, roared with arms outstretched, and sealed a dramatic win.
His teammates erupted in celebration from the dugout. Their joy might have made it look like they’d just won a major tournament or series. In reality, it was just a single T20I win—but for a team trapped in a long losing streak, this one was precious.
In a gripping contest, West Indies edged Pakistan by 2 wickets to level the 3-match T20I series 1–1.
This was West Indies’ first T20I win after six consecutive losses and just their second in their last 14 matches.
The man of the hour, Holder, laid the foundation in the first innings with an excellent bowling display. His four-wicket haul helped him surpass Dwayne Bravo (78) to become West Indies’ highest wicket-taker in T20Is (81). He then finished the job with the bat, earning the Player of the Match award.
In the Sunday morning match (Bangladesh time) at Lauderhill, Florida, Pakistan managed 133 for 9 in 20 overs. Chasing that, West Indies stumbled at several points but ultimately scraped through in the final over.
No Caribbean batter even reached 30, and no partnership crossed that mark either—yet somehow, they pulled off the win.
The nature of the pitch was clear from both teams’ scores. The ball was gripping, stroke-making was difficult, and spinners got some turn.
Holder struck early with the ball, removing last match’s star Saim Ayub (7) in the second over and sending back Sahibzada Farhan (3) in his next. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein dismissed Mohammad Haris (4), reducing Pakistan to just 24 for 3 in the powerplay.
Fakhar Zaman (20) couldn’t build on a promising start. Captain Salman Ali Agha and Hasan Nawaz then added 60 off 39 balls for the fourth wicket.
Hasan batted aggressively, hitting four sixes on his way to 40 off 24 balls before falling to Holder. Salman made 38 off 33. The rest of the lineup crumbled—losing 5 wickets for 19 runs.
In reply, West Indies too had a rocky start. Alikh Athanaze, returning to T20Is after a year, managed just 2. Debutant Jewel Andrew, who scored 35 in the first match, was out after hitting a six and a four. Captain Shai Hope crawled to 21 off 30 balls.
Mohammad Nawaz again starred with the ball—3 for 14 from 4 overs. Saim Ayub also bowled tightly, picking up Rutherford (9 off 11) and Roston Chase (16 off 19).
Together with left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem, they created a stranglehold. At one point, West Indies went 51 balls without hitting a boundary.
When 55 runs were needed off the last 5 overs, Gudakesh Motie reignited the chase by smashing two sixes in a Hasan Ali over.
Motie (28 off 20) was brilliantly run out by Haris in the next over, and Casey Carty fell to Muqeem in the same spell.
That left West Indies needing 36 off the final 3 overs. Romario Shepherd hit a six off Shaheen and a four from Holder kept the fight alive. In the next over, Shepherd smashed Hasan Ali for six and four off consecutive balls, bringing the equation within reach.
Hasan Ali—playing in place of the expensive Haris Rauf—proved costly again.
With 8 needed off the final over, Afridi bowled a tight first few deliveries. Holder took a single off the first ball, then Shepherd was trapped LBW. The next three deliveries yielded only 3 runs.
It seemed another narrow defeat was looming for West Indies. But Holder had other plans—he smashed the final ball for four to keep his team alive in the series.
The third and final T20I will be played at the same venue on Monday at 6:00 AM Bangladesh time.
Brief Scores
- Pakistan: 133/9 in 20 overs
(Saim 7, Farhan 3, Fakhar 20, Haris 4, Salman 38, Hasan Nawaz 40; Akeal 1/16, Holder 4/19, Shamar 1/22, Motie 2/39, Chase 1/11) - West Indies: 135/8 in 20 overs
(Athanaze 2, Andrew 12, Hope 21, Rutherford 9, Chase 16, Motie 28, Holder 16*, Shepherd 15; Afridi 1/31, Nawaz 3/14, Hasan Ali 0/48, Muqeem 1/19, Saim 2/20)
Result: West Indies won by 2 wickets
Series: 3-match series level 1–1
Player of the Match: Jason Holder
