JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CMC):

Career-best bowling from Gavin Tonge helped the depleted West Indies side pose a stiff challenge, before Pakistan held their nerve to outclass them by five wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday.

Tonge finished with a career-best four wickets for 25 runs from his allotment of 10 overs, as West Indies - predictably - failed to successfully defend a modest target of 134 in the second match of the competition.

The match was brought to an anti-climactic end with 117 balls to spare, when Tino Best delivered his fifth wide of the innings down the leg-side to Shahid Afridi, who was leading Pakistan in the absence of Younis Khan - sidelined with a finger injury.

West Indies next face defending champions Australia on Saturday at the same venue, which also stages their final group match next Wednesday against the current World No. 2, India.

West Indies are fielding a depleted squad for the competition, after efforts to resolve a long-running contracts dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) proved futile.

Virtually unplayable

They were expected to be manhandled by Pakistan, but Tonge, bowling fast, full, and straight, was virtually unplayable - like the Pakistan bowlers earlier - on a typically hard, bouncy Wanderers pitch, and the contest became far more competitive.

He struck twice before and after the interval, then Dave Bernard Jr scalped Misbah-ul-Haq to leave Pakistan 76 for five in the 23rd over.

West Indies, however, could not sustain the effort, as Man-of-the-Match Umar Akmal struck 41 not out from 51 balls and added 58 - unbroken - for the sixth wicket with Afridi (17) to navigate the winners to safe harbour.

Greeted by the helpful pitch, West Indies strangely chose to bat and crashed to 47 for seven in the 15th over.

Heads held high

But Nikita Miller struck six fours and one six in the top score of 51 from 57 balls to inch West Indies to a final total of 133 all out from 34.3 overs, as he and the rest of the tail wagged and the weakened West Indies side walked away with their heads held high.

Only two other West Indies batsmen reached double figures - Darren Sammy made 25 and Devon Smith got 18 - as Pakistan's bowlers exploited the pitch to gain appreciable seam movement.

Miller, who reached his 50 from 51 balls when he turned Afridi into mid-wicket for a single, added a valuable 38 for the eighth wicket with Sammy and put on 36 for the ninth wicket with Best in a late flurry that helped West Indies avoid the embarrassment.

Mohammad Aamer collected three for 24 from seven overs for Pakistan, whose Umar Gul snared three for 28 from eight overs and Saeed Ajmal bagged two for 16 from four overs.