Dhaka, Mar 22: Pakistan, without three key players who were suspended, has been the surprise team of the World Cup and are favorites to beat West Indies in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
Pakistan won five of its six matches in the group stage, losing only against New Zealand. Shahid Afridi's squad is on a roll after defeating defending champion Australia in Colombo. That ended run of 34 unbeaten World Cup matches dating back 12 years for Australia and was the 176 was its lowest total in the tournament since 1992.
It will be Pakistan's first trip to Bangladesh in the tournament as all its group matches were played in Sri Lanka.
West Indies won games against Netherlands, Bangladesh and Ireland and lost to South Africa, England and India in the group stage.
The Windies have mixed memories of the venue as their team bus was stoned after they dismissed Bangladesh for 58 on March 4 in a nine-wicket win.
Before the tournament the Caribbean side was viewed as the most vulnerable of the top teams and until the victory over Bangladesh had not beaten a major nation in an ODI away from home for more than two years.
The loss of talented allrounder Dwayne Bravo early in the tournament didn't help the West Indies' cause.
Previous World Cups
West Indies won the first two World Cups in 1995 and 1979 and reached the final in 1983; Pakistan won in 1992.
It will be the first time the teams have met in a World Cup quarterfinal, though they have met twice in the semis. Both matches were at The Oval, in 1979 and 1983, and West Indies won on each occasion.
Head-to-Head
ODI's: Played 114 -- West Indies 64, Pakistan 48, 2 tied.
World Cup matches: Played 8 -- West Indies 6, Pakistan 2.
Two of those matches have been won by one wicket: West Indies won at Edgbaston in 1975 and Pakistan won at Lahore in 1987-88.
Venue
Shere Bangla Stadium is a ground with a good record for sides batting second. Of 46 matches, 18 have been won by the team batting first and 28 by the side batting second. The average score batting first on this ground is 219.
In the 19 floodlit matches on the ground, five have been won by the side batting first, 14 by the side batting second. Average score batting first 243.
Star Players
Pakistan
Shahid Afridi is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 wickets at 11.47, including five-wicket hauls against Kenya and Canada. He has taken a wicket every 19 balls and his economy rate is 3.55 runs per over in his six matches. Afridi has 309 ODI wickets and only Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have taken more wickets for Pakistan.
His time at the crease in this World Cup has been short, with 20 in 17 balls against Canada his longest innings.
But his batting is to be feared as he is the only player to have scored five ODI fifties in 20 balls or fewer, four of them against major opposition. He holds the record for the fastest hundred, scored against Sri Lanka in 37 balls. He has a batting average of just 23.65, but his strike rate is 113.95. This will be his 300th ODI innings and he will become the ninth player to pass that mark, the second for Pakistan after Inzamam-ul-Haq.
West Indies
Chris Gayle has underperformed so far and West Indies need him to score heavily if they are to progress in this competition. Apart from 80 against the Netherlands, he has not really fired.
He has not made an ODI hundred for 33 matches, the last being in January 2009.
His only World Cup hundred in 19 matches was scored against Kenya at Kimberley in 2002-03 and he has only two scores over fifty against major opposition in the competition.
He is the leading ODI wicket-taker in the current West Indies squad, but he has only played four games since arriving on the subcontinent and has limited his bowling to just six overs because of an abdominal strain. He has taken 156 ODI wickets at 35.07 with an economy rate of 4.73. In the World Cup he has nine wickets at 52.78, economy rate 4.79.
How's that again?
In the group stages Pakistan referred 18 umpire decisions for reviews, six of which were lbw appeals by Afridi. In total five of the 18 were successfully overturned, including two in Afridi's favor. West Indies asked for just seven reviews, the fewest of any country, and only one decision was changed. Billy Bowden and Steve Davis are the umpires for this match and out of five and six reviews so far in the tournament, all Bowden's decisions have stood the test of scrutiny. Davis had to reverse one decision.
Milestones
Misbah-ul-Haq needs 51 for 2000 runs.
Shoaib Akhtar, 35, in his third and final World Cup needs three wickets for 250. He played in the 1999 World Cup as did the often overlooked Abdul Razzaq, still only 31 with 266 wickets.
Devon Smith needs 26 for 1,000 runs.
Chris Gayle needs one catch to take 100. AP
