ABU DHABI, Nov 13: The West Indies need to put the unexpected last-over defeat behind them and press hard for victory in the second one-day match against Pakistan here on Friday, captain Chris Gayle said.

West Indies snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when their frontline paceman Jerome Taylor conceded 17 off the 50th over to allow Pakistan to sneak a four-wicket win in the first match on Wednesday.

Wicket-keeper/batsman Kamran Akmal was Pakistan’s hero, hitting Taylor for two sixes to help his team chase a daunting 295-run target set by the West Indies, aided by an aggressive 113 from Gayle — the first three-figure knock at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Despite the disappointment, Gayle hoped the West Indies would do their best to level the three-match series.

“We are positive despite being hurt, because we have two games left and need to come up with a better plan for a victory,” said Gayle on Thursday.

“Pakistan paced their innings very well on Wednesday night. It is just one of those things in cricket, and we are now determined to do better and win the second match.”

It was the West Indian skipper who set the platform for a big total with a 125-run opening stand with Sewanarine Chattergoon, who made 33.

Pakistan rode on half centuries from opener Khurram Manzoor (69), Shoaib Malik (66) and Younis Khan (56) before Kamran (24) and Fawad Alam (26) pulled off an unlikely win.

Gayle said his team did nothing wrong but an unfortunate last over let the match slip.

“Our bowlers bowled well, especially the debutant [Lionel] Baker did well under pressure,” said Gayle of the 24-year-old paceman, who took 3-47 to nearly derail Pakistan.

Gayle justified bowling Taylor at the end.

“What happened was that I bowled one over and Taylor was supposed to come and replace me, but I bowled a good 47th over so I continued and he was left to bowl the last over. It was unfortunate for him that he conceded 17 runs.”

Captain Shoaib Malik also played a huge role, scoring 66 off 50 balls. He came in at the fall of the third wicket in the 33rd over with Pakistan at 159. The asking rate at that stage was more than seven runs per over.

“I am very happy with the way we played despite our lack of international matches in recent times,” Malik said. “Winning the first match is always crucial when you want to win the series, so I am happy we have got off to a good start.”

Pakistani bowlers too struggled against a rampaging Gayle, who hit 11 boundaries and five sixes during his 17th one-day hundred. The previous highest score in Abu Dhabi was 92 by India’s Rahul Dravid against Pakistan in 2006.

Assistant coach Aaqib Javed said it was tough when Gayle was in full flow.

“It’s tough to bowl when Gayle is on,” said Aaqib, himself a former paceman. “But I think our batsmen were focused and did not give until the end and we now look for a 3-0 win.”

Pakistan were left waiting on the fitness of frontline paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who missed the first match due to a calf muscle injury.

Aaqib said the speedster was recovering well.

“He [Shoaib] bowled seven overs in two spells on Thursday but it’s an internal injury and only Shoaib himself knows how he is feeling. We will wait until Friday morning to reassess his fitness,” said Aaqib.

The remaining two matches are on Friday and Sunday.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES:

C.H. Gayle c Afridi b Umar Gul 113

S. Chattergoon c Khurram b Malik 33

R.R. Sarwan c Kamran b Afridi 55

S. Chanderpaul c Salman b Sohail 36

X.M. Marshall b Umar Gul 26

C.S. Baugh c Malik b Umar Gul 5

B.P. Nash run out 9

J.E. Taylor b Sohail 3

D.B.L. Powell b Sohail 0

N.O. Miller not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-6, NB-2) 14

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 294

FALL OF WKTS: 1-125, 2-198, 3-213, 4-255, 5-276, 6-285, 7-294, 8-294.

DID NOT BAT: L.S. Baker.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 10-1-42-3 (1nb, 2w); Abdur Rauf 9-0-77-0; Umar Gul 10-0-66-3 (1nb, 2w); Shoaib Malik 10-0-43-1 (1w); Shahid Afridi 10-0-45-1 (1w); Fawad Alam 1-0-15-0.

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt b Baker 24

Khurram Manzoor c Baugh b Taylor 69

Younis Khan c Chattergoon b Baker 56

Misbah-ul-Haq b Miller 7

Shoaib Malik c Chanderpaul b Taylor 66

Shahid Afridi c Chanderpaul b Baker 4

Fawad Alam not out 26

Kamran Akmal not out 24

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-10, NB-3) 19

TOTAL (for six wkts, 49.5 overs) 295

FALL OF WKTS: 1-64, 2-142, 3-159, 4-206, 5-224, 6-262.

DID NOT BAT: Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Abdur Rauf.

BOWLING: Powell 10-0-58-0 (1nb, 4w); Taylor 9.5-0-54-2 (2w); Baker 9-0-47-3 (1w); Gayle 6-0-33-0 (2nb, 1w); Miller 10-0-64-1 (2w); Nash 5-0-33-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: M.R. Benson (England) and S.J. Davis (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: D.J. Harper (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: Mike Procter (South Africa).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Chris Gayle.

SECOND MATCH: Friday.

THIRD MATCH: Sunday.—Agencies