Pakistan vs West Indies 1st ODI Prediction

If WI Bat First

Predicted Score: Around 225

Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis are likely to open the batting, both of whom will be coming off a forgettable T20I series. Since they have been vulnerable in these conditions, West Indies will want Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard to play the big innings. Both of them had good hits in the tri-series and if they bat well here, the visitors will fancy their chances of reaching the predicted score. Samuels was the second-highest run-scorer in this series and we expect him to extend his good ODI form and top-score for the Windies in this match.

Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah and Imad Wasim will all have important roles to play with the ball for Pakistan. Amir and Wahab will be heading the pace attack and they will be backed by their team to pick up early wickets. The major threat, however, is going to come from Yasir and Wasim as the conditions in the UAE are conducive for spin. Yasir took 19 wickets from his four matches against England and he is more likely to take the most wickets for Pakistan in this match.

Pak vs WI Head-to-Head in ODIs

Pakistan and West Indies last played a bilateral ODI series in the UAE in 2008 when the latter were clean swept by 3-0. Since then, there have been 14 matches between them with Pakistan winning 8 of them. West Indies have won 5 of these matches while one match resulted in a tie.
The two teams have met at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in 19 ODIs with Pakistan winning 10 and losing 9 of them. The last match was won by the West Indies by 110 runs in 2002.

Our Prediction

Pakistan have a more than decent ODI record at this ground. In their 120 matches, they have won 79 and lost 40 which sums up their win percentage to 66.25. However, West Indies haven't done bad here either with 19 wins and as many losses from their 38 matches.

But the visitors have been clearly outclassed by the hosts in the shortest format. Though they did okay with the ball, their batting fell apart completely and chances of any drastic improvements from here onwards seem bleak, especially with Dwayne Bravo no longer with them.

The only thing which could boost the morale of the Windies at the moment is that they have won more 50-over games than Pakistan this year. Nevertheless, a West Indian victory seems far from happening and so we predict Pakistan to win this first one-day international.