West Indies annihilate Pakistan by 7 wickets in one-sided contest

West Indies eased to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in their World Cup opener at Trent Bridge on Friday after an Oshane Thomas-led pace attack swept them away for 105.

Speaking at the post-match closing ceremony Sarfaraz said that Pakistan lost the match because of their poor batting.   

“If you loss toss and lose so many wickets early on, it's tough to come back into the game,” said Sarfaraz. “It was tricky for half an hour, but this was a good batting track, we didn't bat well. I think we have to play positive cricket, didn't do well today.”

Despite the defeat, the Pakistan captain was hopeful that his side will bounce back in the upcoming games.   

“But hopefully we'll bounce back. We know they have pace bowlers who will come hard at us, but we didn't play the short ball well. Today is a bad day, confident of bouncing back,” he said.

He also praised pacer Mohammad Amir, who claimed all three wickets in the West Indies innings, and thanked the crowd for their support.

“It was good to see Mohammad Amir bowling well,” he said. “We always get a lot of support in England, a big thank you to them. Want them to carry on.”

Opener Chris Gayle, set to retire at the end of the tournament, led the Windies reply with a blistering 50 off 34 balls as the two-times champions chased down the total, reaching 108-3 with 36.2 overs to spare.

Having elected to field, West Indies made full use of overcast conditions as Thomas took four wickets for 27 runs, while captain Jason Holder (3-42) and the returning Andre Russell (2-4) completed the demolition job.

Pakistan were dismissed in 21.4 overs for their lowest World Cup total since a paltry 74 against England at Adelaide in 1992, the year Imran Khan's team went on to lift their only 50-overs crown.

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