There are no more second chances from here on as the World Cup reaches the quarter-final stage and West Indies have batted after winning the toss in the first last-eight clash
against Pakistan. It's a meeting of two mercurial teams, where the form book doesn't really matter, but Pakistan will start favourites after a convincing group stage.West Indies, though, were boosted by the return of Chris Gayle while the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul was also back to bolster the batting. Sulieman Benn paid the price for failing to make an impact in his role with the new ball and West Indies packed their line-up with batsmen after they twice collapsed in recent chases against England and India.
Kemar Roach recovered from illness and he returned at the expense of the impressive Andre Russell. Ravi Rampaul's 5 for 51 against India was enough for him to earn another outing. It was an important toss for West Indies to win because it meant they won't have the pressure of chasing, but dew may be a factor later in the day.
Pakistan again left out Shoaib Akhtar - or 'rested' him according to Shahid Afridi - and Saeed Ajmal, the offspinner, replaced left-armer Abdur Rehman with the plan to target West Indies' left-handers. Pakistan's bowling has been key to their success so far with a varied attack that can take wickets throughout the innings. Today, they have an early challenge against Gayle and it's a confrontation that could decide the contest.
Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Saeed Ajmal.
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Ravi Rampaul.
