DUBAI: Dwayne Bravo hit a gritty half-century in a world record ninth wicket stand to lift West Indies to 115 in the first Twenty20 international against Pakistan here on Friday.
Bravo scored a 54-ball 55 for his fourth half-century and added 66 with Jerome Taylor (21) to lift world champions from a precarious 48-8 in 11.3 overs before being bowled off the penultimate ball.
Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim had grabbed a career best 5-14 in his four destructive overs — third best figures for Pakistan in all Twenty20 cricket — after Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bowl on a slow turner at Dubai stadium.
Bravo smashed paceman Wahab Riaz for a six to reach his half-century and led the recovery from a poor start which saw the West Indies struggling at 46-5 in the first ten overs.
Paceman Sohail Tanvir took 2-26. The second match will also be played in Dubai on Saturday while the third is in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Score Board
Pakistan won toss
West Indies
J Charles b Nawaz 7
E Lewis c Nawaz b Imad 1
†A D S Fletcher b Imad 2
M N Samuels lbw b Imad 4
D J Bravo c U Akmal b Sohail 55
N Pooran c Sarfraz b Hasan 5
K A Pollard b Imad 9
*C R Brathwaite c Khalid b Imad 0
S P Narine run out 1
J E Taylor b Sohail 21
S Badree not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 5, nb 2) 9
Total (all out; 19.5 overs) 115
Fall: 1-3, 2-11, 3-15, 4-17, 5-22, 6-47, 7-47, 8-48, 9-114, 10-115
Bowling: Imad 4-0-14-5; Sohail 3.5-0-26-2 (2w); Nawaz (3) 4-0-16-1; Hasan 3-0-32-1 (1nb, 1w); Shoaib 1-0-5-0 (1w); Wahab 4-1-20-0 (1nb, 1w)
Pakistan team
Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, *†Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz (3), Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Hasan Ali
T20I debut: N Pooran (West Indies)
Umpires: Ahsan Raza (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan). TV umpire: Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan). Match referee: A J Pycroft (Zimbabwe)