Babar Azam maiden century helps Pakistan beat West Indies in 1st ODI

Pakistan continued their perfect run against West Indies as Babar Azam knocked his maiden century to set up a 111-run victory in the first ODI match, which was hit by floodlight failure in Sharjah.

Pakistan scored 284 for nine in 49, and under the Duckworth-Lewis method, West Indies need 287 to win in 49 overs.

But the visiting team was folded for 175 runs in 38.4 overs.

The second match will also be played in Sharjah, on Sunday, while the third will be in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

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New Delhi: Starting today, former champions Pakistan and the West Indies start a narrow two-way fight for an automatic place in the 2019 Cricket World Cup in a three-match One-day series in Sharjah.

Pakistan, who last the 50-over world cup in 1992, need to win the series 3-0 to rise one place from ninth while their opponents -- champions in the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 -- need to avoid a clean sweep to maintain their current eighth spot.

Hosts England along with the seven highest-ranked sides in the one-day rankings on September 30 next year will qualify directly for the World Cup.

Pakistan, who also have to face a tough five-match series in Australia early next year, have to secure a clean sweep against West Indies who too will be hard pressed to play England and India before the cut-off date.

Both Pakistan and the West Indies have had varied problems in the 50-over game for quite some time now.

Countdown: 2 hours to the start of the ODI Series. First match at Sharjah Cricket Stadium -- the 225th match at this great ground. pic.twitter.com/TxPGSe6REJ — westindies (@westindies) September 30, 2016

Captain confident Windies will deliver in the ODI Series Listen here: https://t.co/lkqsHI4Wrm — westindies (@westindies) September 29, 2016

Full Squad:

Pakistan

Azhar Ali*, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz (3),Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Khan, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah

West Indies

JO Holder*, SJ Benn, CR Brathwaite, KC Brathwaite, DM Bravo, JL Carter, J Charles, ST Gabriel, AS Joseph, E Lewis, SP Narine, AR Nurse, KA Pollard, D Ramdin†, MN Samuels