West Indies vs Pakistan Prediction: Haris to pile on the misery for Windies

West Indies followed up recent Test embarrassment against Australia with a 5-0 hammering in the T20 series but have an immediate chance to get back on track as they take on Pakistan in a six-match white-ball series in the United States.

Dan Thomas previews the first of three T20s, live on TNT Sports from 01:00 on Friday as he gives us his West Indies vs Pakistan Predictions...

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Team News 

Pakistan travel to the US with a new-look squad led by Salman Agha, with several senior players rested or rotated out. Their 15-man T20 squad includes returning bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, alongside power-hitters Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, and Mohammad Haris, who smashed an unbeaten 107 in their recent 1-2 T20I series loss in Bangladesh. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been named in the ODI squad for the tour but are not involved in this T20 leg. 

Having put their faith in youth for the Australia series, including maiden T20 call-ups for wicketkeeper batsman Jewel Andrew and left arm seamer Jediah Blades, West Indies are unlikely to make wholesale squad changes here despite the whitewash, but skipper Shai Hope says the batting line-up needs to step up. 

Speaking after the final T20 against the Aussies, he said: "As a batting group, we didn't really give ourselves the best chance to put a big score on the board consistently. And that's probably where we fell short." 

The Windies continue to miss the presence of the talismanic Nicholas Pooran who retired from international cricket last year, but there is still plenty of experience in the ranks in the form of Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder and Andre Russell.  

Pitch Report 

The Central Broward Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida - which was the first ground in the US to be certified by the ICC as an international venue - is generally batter friendly at first, but tends to slow up, bringing the spinners into play. Conditions typically favour chasing due to evening dew, and anything over 170 will likely be highly competitive. Expect both sides to go hard in the Powerplay.  

West Indies vs Pakistan 1st ODI Odds

Despite that battering by Australia, West Indies have been chalked up as 8/11 favourites to win the opener on 'home' soil, with the visitors an 11/10 chance.

Hope is a skinny looking 5/2 to top score for the Windies, with eyes drawn to the 9/2 on Hetmyer, who scored his first T20 half century since August 2023 in the final T20 against Australia. Haris will catch plenty of interest at 9/2 for Pakistan top scorer on the back of that match-winning century last time out against Bangladesh.  

Top Batter 

With no Babar or Rizwan, Pakistan's top-order responsibility will fall to Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub and Haris, who looked in great touch in scoring that blistering ton in Bangladesh. The latter represents the best value at 9/2.  

For West Indies, expect pressure on the top three to convert starts after repeated collapses versus Australia. Given the fragility of the batting line-up, it is worth looking at a bigger odds play from one of the lower order hitters; Romario Shepherd has an impressive strike rate of over 140 in T20s and may be worth a small interest at 11/1.  

Top Bowler 

The experienced Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will lead the pace attack for Pakistan and both are wicket taking bowlers, with Afridi's powerplay accuracy and Rauf's death-over skills  key weapons for the side. They haven't been missed in the market, however, with both at 13/5. Spinner Akeal Hosein remains the Windies most reliable option and offers a smidgeon of value at 7/2. 

Best Bets  

Given West Indies' batting instability and low confidence levels after that 5-0 hammering by the Aussies, allied with Pakistan's potent bowling line-up, I was pleasantly surprised to see the visitors available at odds-against and will be taking the 11/10. I'll also back Haris to build on the century against Bangladesh and top score once again at 9/2.  

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