Babar stars in 8-wicket win, Pakistan complete 3-0 whitewash

Pakistan produced another imperious performance to beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final Twenty20 international in Karachi on Tuesday, completing a 3-0 clean sweep of the series.

Pakistan thrashed West Indies by 8 wickets with 19 balls to spare to complete a 3-0 whitewash and take a four-point lead over second-ranked Australia in the ICC T20I Rankings.

The three-match T20I series, marking the return of international cricket to Karachi in after nine long years garnered huge support and the upbeat Pakistan side gave good returns against a depleted West Indies.  

The West Indies fared better with the bat compared with the first two matches, reaching 153-6 in their 20 overs after winning the toss. Opener Andre Fletcher scored a 43-ball 52 -- his team's only half-century on this tour.

It was not enough, however, as Pakistan got to the total comfortably, with opener Babar Azam scoring a rapid 40-ball 51.

With a 3-0 series win against West Indies, Pakistan have extended their lead at the top of the @MRFWorldwide ICC T20I Team Rankings! pic.twitter.com/sFQyEdKFVq

— ICC (@ICC) April 4, 2018

The hosts raced to 61 in the sixth over with left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman smashing two sixes and six boundaries in his 17-ball 40.

He miscued a drive off Rayad Emrit and was caught behind, but Azam and Hussain Talat continued Pakistan's domination with a 52-run stand.

Talat finished with 31, and Asif Ali scored 25 not out as Pakistan chased down the target in 16.5 overs.

Earlier, Fletcher added an invaluable 72 runs for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels who scored a 25-ball 31 with two sixes and as many boundaries.

Denesh Ramdin cracked a fiery 18-ball 42 not out with four boundaries and three sixes -- two in the last over from Usman Shinwari -- as the West Indies scored 57 in the last five overs.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan finished with 2-27 while Mohammad Nawaz, Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf took a wicket each.

OUT! 11.3 Shadab Khan to Marlon Samuels
Watch ball by ball highlights at https://t.co/wIldCm7BcL#PAKvWI #ApnaKhelApneGhar @_cricingif pic.twitter.com/nsFYx3ANGT

— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) April 3, 2018

Two players made their T20 debuts on Tuesday -- teenage paceman Shaheen Afridi for Pakistan and Andre McCarthy for the West Indies.

Pakistan won the first match by 143 runs and the second by 82 runs. Karachi hosted all three T20s, the first international matches in the city in nine years.

The series is the latest in a number of steps taken recently to help revive international cricket in Pakistan, which was suspended for years after a 2009 militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

Since Sarfraz Ahmed took over as skipper in September 2016, Pakistan have notched up series wins over England, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and a World XI side.