West Indies' Marlon Samuels hits a shot to complete his century during their fourth one-day international cricket match against Pakistan in Multan yesterday. Samuels scored 100 not out to lead the West Indies to a seven-wicket victory. - reuters

MULTAN, Pakistan (CMC):

Stylish right-hander Marlon Samuels stroked his second one-day international (ODI) hundred and steered West Indies to an easy seven-wicket win over Pakistan at Multan Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Samuels stroked 100 not out and West Indies won the fourth ODI with more than 15 overs to spare to keep alive their hopes of saving the series.

Pakistan were restricted to 209 all out off 49.5 overs and West Indies cruised to 212 for three in reply off just 34.5 overs.

The Pakistanis lead the five-match series 2-1 with the final game set for Saturday in Karachi. The first match was rained out last week Tuesday in Rawalpindi.

The 25-year-old Samuels played a splendid innings and lashed his hundred off 99 balls with 17 fours and one six.

Match-winning third-wicket stand

He had used 61 balls to get to his 50 with seven fours and one six while sharing in a match-winning 141-run third-wicket stand with opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who stroked a polished 60 off 82 balls with eight boundaries.

The pair had come together with the West Indies in strife at 11 for two after Chris Gayle (9) and Lendl Simmons (0) went cheaply.

Samuels and Lara (13 not out) finished the game with a shot-filled 60-run partnership, 50 in 37 balls.

Earlier, the West Indies seamers had placed their side in a great position.

Asked to field first after losing the toss, West Indies needed 49.5 overs to oust Pakistan cheaply.

Pacer Daren Powell, included for his first match of the series, grabbed three for 33 and medium pacer Dwayne Smith finished with two for 29, as Pakistan never came to grips with the West Indies attack.

Yasir Hameed hit the top score of 71 from 118 balls and Abdul Razzaq, leading the team in Inzamam-ul-Haq's absence, scored 33 with Faisal Iqbal getting 30.

Pakistan never recovered from the early loss of wickets. The attacking Shahid Afridi, brought in to replace Mohammed Yousuf who was forced to return home again for family reasons, had his stumps uprooted for one in the dayÕs second over bowled by Powell, with the score on four.

Powell also accounted for Imran Farhat for 13, caught at gully by Chris Gayle slashing at a wide ball with the score on 33.

Mohammed Hafeez (1) and Shoaib Malik (0) fell in quick succession to leave Pakistan in dire straits at 47 for four in the 17th over, before a stand of 62 for the fifth wicket between Hameed and Iqbal restored some momentum for the hosts.

When Powell finally prised out Iqbal, Hameed added a further 32 for the sixth wicket with Razzaq to keep the Windies bowlers at bay.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan stroked a cameo 18 from 13 balls at the end to give Pakistan's tail life before two run outs and wickets by Ian Bradshaw and Marlon Samuels ended the hosts' resistance.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN Innings:

Imran Farhat c Gayle b Powell 13

Shahid Afridi b Powell 1

Yasir Hameed c Powell b Mohammed 71

Mohammad Hafeez c Gayle b Smith 1

Shoaib Malik lbw b Smith 0

Faisal Iqbal c Mohammed b Powell 30

Abdul Razzaq c Gayle b Bradshaw 33

+Kamran Akmal run out (Simmons/Ramdin) 11

Rana Naved run out (Bradshaw) 18

Mohammad Sami c Smith b Samuels 2

Rao Iftikhar not out 7

Extras (lb1, w16, nb4) 21

TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 209

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-45, 4-47, 5-109, 6-141, 7-154, 8-199, 9-201, 10-209.

Bowling: I. Bradshaw 10-0-43-1 (nb2, w2), D. Powell 10-1-33-3 (w4), D. Smith 10-1-29-2 (nb1, w2), L. Simmons 1-0-9-0 (nb2), D. Mohammed 10-0-41-1, M. Samuels 8.5-0-53-1 (w8).

WEST INDIES Innings (Target 210 off 50 overs)

C. Gayle b Rana Naved 9

S. Chanderpaul c Faisal b Sami 60

L. Simmons lbw b Rana Naved 0

M. Samuels not out 100

B. Lara not out 13

Extras (lb11, w12, nb7) 30

TOTAL (for three wickets, 34.5 overs) 212

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-152.

Did not bat: R. Morton, D. Smith, +D. Ramdin, D. Mohammed, I. Bradshaw, D. Powell.

Bowling: Rana Naved 6-1-18-2 (nb1, w5), Mohammad Sami 7-0-37-1 (nb3, w5), Rao Iftikhar 5.5-0-56-0, Shahid Afridi 2-0-13-0, Abdul Razzaq 6-0-51-0 (nb3, w2), Mohammad Hafeez 5-0-12-0, Shoaib Malik 3-0-14-0.

Toss: Pakistan.

Result: West Indies won by 7 wickets.

Pakistan lead five-match series 2-1.

Fifth and final match: December 16, Karachi.

Umpires: Nigel Llong (England), Zameer Haidar (Pakistan).

3rd/TV umpire: Riazuddin (Pakistan).

Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).