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Hosts open account with easy win
Hosts West Indies defeated Pakistan by 54 runs to set the ball rolling in the opening game of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. Played at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, the match was a one-sided affair with West Indies hogging the limelight in view of impressive performances by its all-rounders.
Dwayne Smith was star of the West Indies-Pakistan Group D encounter that declared the two-month long event open. The Windies played a good match, managing to do away with early tournament jitters and high expectations of being the host nation for the first time.
Batting first, the West Indies scored a comfortable 241/9, banking on impressive performances by Marlon Samuels (63), Ramnaresh Sarwan (49) and Smith (32 off 15). Despite being 186-6 at one point, the host team did not boggle down under pressure and scored a respectable total. For Pakistan, Iftikhar Anjum grabbed three wickets for 44 runs.
Pakistan were shaky from the start and lost their top four batsmen before scoring a total of 100. In fact, they lost opener Imran Nazir on the third ball of the innings. None of Pakistan's veterans were able to counter Windies' bowlers. Shoaib Malik's (62) was the only commendable performance from Pakistan.
For West Indies, Smith (3-36) and Dwayne Bravo (3-42) were the pick of bowlers. They did not allow Pakistan to settle down and kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Smith's cameo at batting gave him the confidence and impetus of doing better as a bowler. He was deserving winner of the Man of the Match award.
West Indies and Pakistan next play Zimbabwe and Ireland respectively.
Brief Score: West Indies 241/9 (Samuels 63, Sarwan 49, Anjum 3-44) vs. Pakistan 187 (Malik 62, Smith 3-36, Bravo 3-42)
Result: West Indies won by 54 runs
Man of the Match: Dwayne Smith
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Group D Points
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