Former star player and captain of Pakistan’s World Championship of Legends Younis Khan leads Asian side to WCL 2024 final with victory ver West Indies.
Pakistan outclassed West Indies Champions by 20 runs in first semi-final of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2024, held at the County Ground in Northampton.
After setting a target of 199 runs, Pakistani bowlers delivered an impeccable performance, propelling their team to the final, where they will lock horns with arch-rival India or Australia. Sohail Khan remained under limelight as he bagged four wickets, restricting Windies to 178 runs.
West Indies had a slow start, as they scored only 7 runs in the first 25 balls. Power House Chris Gayle soon found his rhythm and began hitting boundaries in the fifth over. His innings was cut short at 26 runs by Sohail Khan.
West Indies continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Ashley Nurse played a brisk innings of 36 runs off 24 balls and seemed poised to guide the team to victory but was run out by Kamran Akmal. Lower down the order, Rayad Emrit scored a quick 29 runs off nine balls before falling to Shoaib Malik. Wahab Riaz and Shoaib Malik claimed two each.
In first innings, Pakistan had a shaky start, losing Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, and Shoaib Malik early without strong base. West Indies appeared dominant with the ball swinging under cloudy skies, but a crucial 77-run partnership between captain Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal steadied the innings.
Lamran returned to pavilion after scoring 46 runs off 31 balls. After his dismissal, Pakistan lost two more wickets, with Shahid Afridi (1) and Misbah-ul-Haq (0) returning to the pavilion.
Younis Khan was eventually dismissed by Fidel Edwards after scoring 65 runs. Despite this, Pakistan continued to add runs, thanks to a 61-run partnership between Aamer Yamin and Sohail Tanvir. Yamin scored 37 runs off 17 balls, while Tanvir added 33 runs off 17 deliveries.
For West Indies, Fidel Edwards got three scalps, Sulieman Benn got two, and Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Smith each picked up one wicket.
