West Indies win T20 thriller, level Pakistan series
The veteran allrounder bowled an inspired spell to take 4-19 off four overs, as Pakistan struggled to 9-133 after winning the toss and batting first in Florida on Saturday.
West Indies' reply also stumbled as Pakistan's spinners kept scoring difficult but late cameos by Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd kept West Indies just about in the contest before Holder's heroics off Shahid Shah Afridi's final delivery clinched it.
It is the first West Indies T20 victory in seven matches, a span that includes a heavy 5-0 series defeat to Australia, on top of a 3-0 Test series sweep last month.
"Been a tough couple of weeks for us," captain Shai Hope said.
"We always try to get better, the guys have put in a lot of hard work. Hopefully today is the turnaround we are looking for."
Earlier, Hasan Nawaz's 40 from 23 deliveries and captain Salman Agha's 38 from 33 led Pakistan from a precarious 4-53 in the 10th over, but 133 looked a vulnerable target at the innings break.
Fresh from taking three wickets in Pakistan's 14-run win in the opening game at the same venue on Thursday, Mohammad Nawaz returned 3-14 from his four overs.
When Roston Chase (16 off 19) was teased into a big shot by Saim Ayub, West Indies had sunk to 5-70 in the 14th over and looking at a steep mountain to climb.
Motie got the innings moving with his quickfire 28 from 20 balls before Shepherd chipped in with 15 from 11, including taking 10 runs off Hasan Ali in the second-to-last over to give West Indies a glimpse.
Needing eight runs from the final over, and three from the last delivery, Holder found the gap at backward square to score a boundary to end their T20 six-match losing streak.
"We've had a fair bit of criticism which is warranted," player-of-the-match Holder said.
"We haven't done justice to our potential. We can be a lot better, consistency has definitely plagued us."
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