WICKET! Bravo is run out off the first delivery of the final over, having swung himself clean off his feet attempting to hit Tanvir out of the park. Sammy calls for the single, despite Bravo lying prone on the ground, and by the time Bravo is up and running the ball has been hurled at the non-striker's stumps. But Sammy remains, and he swings merrily to add 14 more runs from the over. What hitting!
Phew, this one's even bigger! Ajmal is meant to be Pakistan's trump card, but he's been dispatched for a massive 24 runs in this over, with both Bravo and Sammy indulging their adventurous sides. Bravo picks up where he left off in the previous over, swatting two fearless, outrageous sixes before handing the strike to Sammy. The hefty St. Lucian bludgeons another six over wide long on, and then swings his forearms through a length delivery to pick up four more through extra cover. Carnage! This partnership is already worth 71.
Bravo is on the charge! He takes 21 runs from Gul's over with some audacious hitting. He starts by launching the first ball, a full one, back over Gul's head for six, and immediately adds six more by leaning back to slap a shorter one well in front of square. But he's not done there, and after digging out a yorker he laces a drive up and over point. Placement and swift sprinting bring a brace of twos from the final deliveries. This is the over West Indies needed!
Yet more success for Sammy, though he enjoys some welcome good fortune as well. He lines up Ajmal for another swipe to midwicket, and the top edge flies in the opposite direction but past the wicketkeeper and away for four. Some very hard running brings two more after Sammy nudges the ball through midwicket, and he ends the over by chopping a cut out to deep point ... where Tanvir lazily sticks a boot out but can't stop the ball. What was I saying about Pakistan's fielding earlier?
West Indies have to go for just about everything now, and in this over from Babar both Bravo and Sammy manage to find a welcome boundary, though in contrasting style. Bravo opens the over by stepping back and lifting the left-arm spinner over extra cover in his trademark style, while Sammy is also in character when he winds up with a massive back-lift and crunches the ball past midwicket.
Tip-and-run cricket from Sammy and Bravo as Ajmal rushes through his second over. There aren't any big shots, with both batsmen just looking to lay bat on Ajmal's many variations. Ajmal ends the over with a screeching appeal, just about rending the skies of Dhaka, but the umpire is unmoved. It may have been spinning down the leg side, and Sammy survives ...
WICKET! West Indies are crumbling under the relentless pressure of Pakistan's spin hydra. There's simply no room to breath: overs are completed in a flash, there's very little pace to work with and a claustrophobic ring of fielders near the bat. Ramdin strikes out in desperation at left-arm spinner Babar, but he can only pick out Umar Akmal in the deep.
Pakistan's fielding has been energetic so far this evening, and that can often be an indication of how their batting and bowling might follow. Gul has cause to aim another shy at the stumps in Afridi's third over, but this time the throw just misses and Bravo survives. There's been a lot more intensity from Pakistan so far.
Babar returns, with two new batsmen to bowl at, and Ramdin and Bravo do their best to work the ball around the field and get West Indies up and running again.
WICKETS! These sorts of things happen when Shahid Afridi is bowling. He might've had Simmons lbw with the first ball of the over, and the batsman is indeed dismissed before another ball is bowled - though not lbw. As the umpire is considering the appeal, Samuels calls Simmons through for a single, but Gul's throw shatters the non-striker's stumps with Simmons short of his ground. Samuels strikes back with an imperious strike down the ground for six, but then gives it away by chopping the ball onto his own stumps. Two wickets in the over put Pakistan right on top!
Saeed Ajmal comes on for his first over of the evening, and it's not long before he exhibits his offspin variations with a doosra. It's immediately apparent that Simmons can't pick him, but he and Samuels do at least survive the over unscathed.
Right, a sense of urgency is now starting to creep into West Indies' batting. There's a shot a ball in Afridi's second over, and though the boundary they're seeking isn't found Simmons and Samuels still take seven from the over.
Umar Gul replaces Tanvir, and his first four deliveries are good ones. He even hurries an advancing Simmons with his pace, striking the batsman a stinging blow on the glove. But Simmons connects with the next one, sending the ball over wide long on for six to keep West Indies ticking over.
Shahid Afridi rushes through his first over of bustling legspin, and quickly shows why he's such an effective Twenty20 bowler. His changes of pace are massive, with his quickest ball in his first over being more than 100kph, and he's also nicely accurate. Without the width or length to really get him away, the batsmen contend with ones and twos.
Counterpunch from Samuels! Tanvir is kept on for a third over in his opening spell, and after exchanging singles with Simmons, Samuels stands at the crease and hammers a full, wide ball through extra cover for four. It's only a minor dent in Tanvir's figures, but West Indies need more of that.
Zulfiqar Babar is wheeled out to bowl his left-arm spin for the first time tonight, but it appears his style is to Simmons' liking. He has a cut shot intercepted by a diving Shehzad at point but then heaves a slog sweep into the stands beyond midwicket and, out-thinking the bowler, then steps back to place another cut more successfully for four more. Will tonight be Simmons' night? West Indies need someone else from their top order to stand up after the failures of both Gayle and Smith. And look again at that scoreline: with all the boundaries, there have only been six singles in five overs. Again, West Indies are struggling to rotate.
WICKET! Tanvir strikes! He's been mesmerizing with the new ball tonight, and has just reward with the dismissal of Smith. Delivery after delivery pitched on a perfect length, angling across the right-hander, before he poked and, finally, was caught behind. Tanvir completes the over in style, bursting yet another one past Samuels' outside edge. Smith played a couple of powerful strokes, but never really convinced in this short innings.
WICKET! That's what Hafeez was hoping for! Gayle steps out at one that's floated up to him outside off stump, ball spins past bat and Akmal whips the bails off. Gayle actually started off with his back foot outside of the crease, and went even further. What was he thinking? Hafeez has now bowled six deliveries at Gayle in Twenty20 internationals and dismissed him ... three times! Smith and Simmons appear unfazed by the wicket, each man collecting a boundary with confident-looking shot-play. And between times, Afridi and Gul complete a remarkable, synchronized fielding effort at the boundary.
A probing first over from Sohail Tanvir at the other end. He starts off too straight to Gayle, and the left-hander whips him neatly to the fine leg boundary. But Tanvir tightens up noticeably, beating Gayle's outside edge and, when he hands the strike to his right-handed partner, beating Smith's too.
Mohammad Hafeez opens the bowling with his offspin, no doubt hoping to have a crack at Chris Gayle before he gets going. But it's Dwayne Smith on strike first up, and he doesn't find Hafeez an overly daunting prospect. His third ball is tonked over mid-on for four, but those are the only runs in the over. It's worth keeping an eye on these dot balls - West Indies have struggled to rotate the strike in previous games, relying mainly on boundaries, and that tactic could backfire against Pakistan's varied attack.
1. Kamran Akmal (wk), 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez (c), 4. Umar Akmal, 5. Shoaib Malik, 6. Sohaib Maqsood, 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Sohail Tanvir, 9. Umar Gul, 10. Zulfiqar Babar, 11. Saeed Ajmal.
1. Smith, 2. Gayle, 3. Samuels, 4. Simmons, 5. Bravo, 6. Ramdin (wk), 7. Sammy (c), 8. Russell, 9. Narine, 10. Badree, 11. Santokie.
Well, the news is that there is no news: both teams are fielding unchanged XIs. Or perhaps that's news in itself? Either way, it's understandable that neither side would want to disrupt their rhythm with major changes.
West Indies have won the toss, and Darren Sammy has decided to bat first. It's an interesting call, given what's just happened in the match before this one, but Sammy clearly believes West Indies have more firepower than Bangladesh. Which they do. They also have Narine, Badree and even Santokie to exploit any grip there might be in the surface this evening.
Hello and welcome to the second WT20 match of the day. Unlike the earlier game, this one actually means something, with the winner going through to the semi-finals and the loser hopping on a plane home.