Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik Saturday said his team will try its level best to complete a 3-0 one-day series win over the West Indies and jump to fourth position in world rankings. Pakistan, currently sixth, will leapfrog arch-rivals India (fifth) and New Zealand (fourth) in the ICC (International Cricket Council) one-day rankings if it beats the West Indies in the third and final match here on Sunday. Pakistan clinched a last over thriller by four wickets on Wednesday and then edged the West Indies by 24 runs in the second match on Friday. And Malik hoped his team would achieve the clean sweep. “We will do our best because my aim has always been to improve and come in the world's top two teams and here is an opportunity for us to do that,” said Malik who is in line to have his captaincy extended if the team wins. Appointed captain after Pakistan's disastrous first-round exit from the World Cup in the West Indies last year, Malik's tenure is due to end next month. However he said he is more concerned about the team winning than his tenure as captain. “I don't think on those lines. At the moment we have a task on our hands and that is to win the last match which will give us more confidence for India,” said Malik of the series against Pakistan's arch rivals in January. Malik said fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is still battling a calf injury which forced him to sit out in the first two matches. “He (Akhtar) is still struggling. Anyone can get injured here because the ground is very soft, so we will look at his fitness before the match,” said Malik. West Indian coach John Dyson said his team needs to improve its finishing to avoid a clean sweep. Hossains shine Opening bowler Shahadat Hossain and left-arm slow bowler Mehrab Hossain sparked a Bangladesh fightback on the first day of a two-day match against a South African Airways Challenge XI at the Diamond Oval in Kimberly, South Africa,Saturday. The tourists were on 92 for two at the close after bowling out the Challenge XI for 265. It was a much stronger position than seemed likely after the Challenge XI, made up of players who compete in South Africa's amateur competition, made a strong start, with Divan van Wyk and Andre Seymore putting on 170 for the first wicket at better than four runs an over. But Shahadat Hossain made a breakthrough when he dismissed both openers as well as number three batsman Alan Beukes in the space of 14 balls. Then Mehrab Hossain worked his way through the middle order as the Challenge XI subsided to 265 all out, losing all ten wickets for 95 runs in the space of 25 overs. Bangladesh meets South Africa in the first of two Tests in Bloemfontein, starting Wednesday.
