By Ken Borland
Johannesburg - Fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul shared six wickets as Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets in their Champions Trophy Group A match at the Wanderers on Wednesday.
ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Gallery
West Indies, fielding a weakened lineup in the tournament despite their leading players ending a boycott last month over contractual disputes, were dismissed for 133. Pakistan stuttered in their reply before an unbeaten stand of 58 from Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi guided them home with over 19 overs to spare.
'Mohammad is very talented and has a great future' After winning the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies batsmen fell flat as 17-year-old Aamer and Gul reduced them to 47 for seven.
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Aamer caught and bowled Dale Richards for a single at the end of the first over and then added the wickets of Travis Dowlin for a duck and David Bernard for six to finish with three for 24 in seven overs.
Gul produced a probing spell of three for 28 in eight overs as he claimed the wickets of Devon Smith (18), captain Floyd Reifer (7) and Chadwick Walton (0), the latter two with successive deliveries.
There was resistance from the West Indies lower-order, however, as Darren Sammy scored 25 and Nikita Miller made 51, his maiden one-day international half-century.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said that he was surprised the West Indies had chosen to bat first.
'We have come here to win' "We would have bowled first," Intikhab told a news conference. "The ball did a lot in the beginning, it was not an easy pitch and there was uneven bounce too.
"Aamer and Gul were very good tonight. Umar was very committed and Mohammad is very talented and has a great future."
The Wanderers pitch, unlike the flat surface up the road in Centurion, always offered the pacemen some assistance and West Indian opening bowler Gavin Tonge made Pakistan sweat in their run-chase with his first ODI wickets in his third match.
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