ABU DHABI, Nov 17: Despite a battling century by West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Pakistan won the third and final One-day International by 31 runs to sweep the series 3-0 staged in the United Arab Emirates (also reported in Monday’s edition).

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan reached 273-6 in its 50 overs thanks mainly to a well-paced innings of 101 by Younis Khan and an unbeaten 79 by Misbah-ul-Haq.

Gayle hit 122 for his 18th One-day International hundred and second of the series following a 113 on Wednesday, but that could only take his team to 242 before it was bowled out in the 47th over.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik was happy with the result.

“This series win is very special for us as this is perhaps the first time in last three years that we have won three successive matches,” he said.

“I am very happy for the entire team, as this was a very good team effort. The batsmen, led by Younis and Misbah, put up a good total and then all our bowlers bowled well. This win will put us in a good frame of mind for the important series against India.”

Gayle was disappointed and said his team needed to do the basics right if they were to win matches.

“We had three centuries in three matches, and ended up losing all three,” he said. “It is very disappointing because we were close to winning the series but made some small mistakes here and there. We have a series against New Zealand next and we need to get our basics right.”

The balance of the match veered from one side and then to the other during West Indies’ innings. With the new ball swinging, West Indies openers Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon could add only eight runs in the first five overs.

Once Chattergoon was dismissed, Gayle added 151 runs for the second wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan (62) and Pakistan almost looked out of the match.

But Malik brought back Rao Iftikhar for a second spell and that did the trick. Having gone for 25 runs in his first three overs, Rao Iftikhar clean bowled Sarwan with his third delivery of the 32nd over, and then removed Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Xavier Marshall in the 34th over.

The Pakistani paceman was not yet done. Shawn Findlay was the next to go in the 38th over when he top-edged a short delivery to Malik at mid-off.

Rao Iftikhar finished with 4-59, but his figures were 4-16 in five overs at one stage as West Indies slumped from 168-1 to 193-6. But Gayle clobbered him for two huge sixes and a four in the 43rd over and the match again swung in West Indies’ favour.

Gayle was dropped by Saeed Ajmal off Umar Gul when on 3, and later by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal off Saeed when on 34.

There was also drama when Gayle was on 99, Kamran twice appealing for a catch off Rao Iftikhar in the 39th over. The first looked doubtful, but the second seemed a clear edge on television replays. Even Gayle appeared to be walking, but the umpire Mark Benson thought otherwise and the West Indian captain survived.

Gayle was finally dismissed in the 44th over when the television umpire Steve Davis ruled he was caught behind off Umar Gul.

It is the fourth time Pakistan have completed a clean sweep in a one-day series against the West Indies.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt c Findlay b Powell 0

Khurram Manzoor c Nash b Gayle 30

Younis Khan b Miller 101

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 79

Shoaib Malik b Taylor 13

Shahid Afridi c Chanderpaul b Baker 6

Kamran Akmal b Taylor 21

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-20) 23

TOTAL (for six wkts, 570 overs) 273

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-88, 3-191, 4-226, 5-233, 6-273.

DID NOT BAT: Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.

BOWLING: Powel 10-0-45-1 (14w); Taylor 10-0-50-2 (2w); Baker 10-0-70-1; Miller 10-0-55-1 (1w); Gayle 10-0-50-1 (3w).

WEST INDIES:

C.H. Gayle c Kamran b Umar Gul 122

S. Chattergoon c Younis b Sohail 6

R.R. Sarwan b Rao Iftikhar 62

S. Chanderpaul c Misbah b Rao Iftikhar 3

X.M. Marshall b Rao Iftikhar 0

S.E. Findlay c Malik b Rao Iftikhar 5

B.P. Nash c Kamran b Afridi 1

J.E. Taylor b Umar Gul 17

N.O. Miller not out 5

D.B.L. Powell lbw b Umar Gul 0

L.S. Baker b Sohail 2

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-14) 19

TOTAL (all out, 46.3 overs) 242

FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-168, 3-176, 4-177, 5-191, 6-193, 7-232, 8-239, 9-239.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 7.3-0-32-2 (3w); Umar Gul 8-2-31-3 (5w); Rao Iftikhar 9-0-59-4; Saeed Ajmal 10-0-35-0 (2w); Shoaib Malik 3-0-29-0 (3w); Shahid Afridi 9-0-51-1 (1w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by 31 runs to clinch series 3-0.

UMPIRES: M.R. Benson (England) and D.J. Harper (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: S.J. Davis (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Younis Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Chris Gayle.

FIRST MATCH: Pakistan won by four wickets.

SECOND MATCH: Pakistan won by 24 runs.—Agencies