3 Reasons Why WI Champions Lost to PAK Champions in the 11th Match of WCL 2025

The moment the first ball was bowled to Pakistan Champions at Leeds, the West Indies Champions knew they had their work cut out. Pakistan’s innings took off, with Sharjeel Khan and Kamran Akmal flying the flags for Pakistan. The Windies, despite all the swagger, never felt like they were in their chase for a massive 201 target. There were moments of pressure, but they fell short by 49 runs, leaving fans in confusion about how to approach the analysis and what went wrong on the day victory felt so close.

Early Batting Collapse Shattered Momentum

First off, the dislocation of the top order of the Windies, combined with the loss of confidence that must also go with it, was the write-off in this match. To lose three wickets for just nine runs in under six overs is just the sort of self-inflicted blow that no team can recover from. Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons barely had a look in and were barely able to withstand the barrage of Pakistan’s attack delivered by Rumman Raees, which tore through a fragile beginning.

This collapse was not just about the wickets taken, but also the decimation of the momentum and confidence that the Windies needed to establish and build something special at the top of the order when they are chasing a total. It is one thing when you lose three of your power hitters with little more than a half-hearted flicker of resistance, but you are on a hiding to nothing when you are chasing a total!

Kamran Akmal’s Explosive Knock Changed the Game

In came Kamran Akmal, with a bat that streaked like a comet lighting up Yorkshire. His explosive 113 off 62 balls was pure counterattack. Akmal was not merely scoring runs; he was changing the momentum of the match with towering sixes and crisp boundaries that propelled Pakistan’s run rate to phenomenal heights.

The West Indian bowlers couldn’t make the runs dry up. They would eventually attempt to exert pressure, yet every time, Akmal’s bat would better the intentions of the Windies bowler. It all accumulated to a total that haunted the West Indies ball by ball.

Windies Suffer Heavy Loss Due to Poor Adaptation and Finishing

Finally, although the West Indies had other problems, their inability to adjust to the conditions and finish off strong contributed to their difficulty. To chase down such a large target on a playing surface well suited for batting, the Windies needed to demonstrate more than fireworks; they had to show tenacity and game awareness, and they appeared too dependent on only a handful of players.

Chadwick Walton and Dwayne Bravo were able to provide moments of brilliance, but could not be relied upon throughout much of the chase. The extras—15 in total— also ran up the total; furthermore, failing to rotate the strike pressed on the middle order. When your finishers cannot post the accelerator at important moments in a chase, and fielding and extras keep adding up, it gets away from you very quickly.

In the end, this was a match that slipped away from the West Indies Champions, not through fault of effort, but rather early batting collapse, and Kamran Akmal’s superb innings set a bar that was simply unreachable. In addition to letting extras escape them and the inability to chase with tactical sharpness, the Windies were chasing shadows.