West Indies cautious after Pakistan's 376
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:29
Reverse swing will come into play on flat pitch – Azhar Ali
West Indies safely negotiated an awkward last half hour to head to stumps without having lost a wicket in response to Pakistan’s first innings total of 376. Kraigg Brathwaite and Keiron Powell were circumspect, eager to bat again tomorrow and technically adept enough to deserve it. That only 14 runs came off the 11 overs they faced will bother no one, considering Pakistan had trudged along in much the same way for almost two sessions.On a day likely to be remembered for the pace, or the lack of it, Azhar Ali got his 14th Test hundred, and was supported by Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed as Pakistan looked set to bat through the day. However, West Indies bowlers came back into it in the final session as the last five Pakistan wickets fell for only 65 runs.
It was hard to clear the infield – Azhar
A slow outfield and a ball that got softer as the day progressed hampered Pakistan’s run-making, according to Azhar Ali. The Pakistan batsman, who scored 127 in his side’s first-innings score of 376, said that run-scoring wasn’t quite as easy on a flat track but was pleased the side had managed to come close to its target score of 400.
“As a batsman you would like to score as fluently as you can but, as you can see, the outfield is really slow and the ball doesn’t really travel and it gets soft,” he said. “It’s hard to clear the infield first and if you do then it doesn’t go far. It’s really hard and sometimes you had to hit a six to get going again. It was tough but we wanted to score 400 runs in the first innings and we got close to that. From now on, we have to dominate the game and try and put pressure on West Indies.”
Azhar was hopeful Pakistan’s three seamers could capitalize on reverse swing on the third day. He singled out debutant Hasan Ali as an exciting prospect to watch.
“I think at some stage the reverse-swing should be coming in to play. They are all good fast bowlers, specially Hasan, who is making his debut. He’s a very exciting bowler to look at and he’s quite skiddy, so hopefully he can get some reverse swing going. They are very capable of picking up 20 wickets on it and it is really important for us to finish off the series.”
All eyes were on Sarfraz after tea, with Pakistan looking to inject some sorely lacking momentum into their innings. However, they were dealt a major setback early on in the session when Jason Holder took two wickets off two balls to send back Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah.With the score on 322 for 8, West Indies would have hoped to run through the last two batsmen and make Pakistan pay for their lack of intent earlier on. But Sarfraz maddened them by bringing his street-cricket skills to the fore. The wicketkeeper batsman basically took guard outside leg stump, forcing the bowlers off their lines, and collected 39 of the 45-run partnership between himself and Mohammad Abbas.Just as Pakistan began to close in on 400, Sarfraz edged one from Devendra Bishoo into first slip’s hands. Hasan Ali came in and was good for a pair of lusty boundaries before Bishoo cleaned him up. Pakistan’s bowlers may still be favourites with a cushion of 376 runs behind them, but a top team should really aspire for more after batting nearly 150 overs.In the morning, taking aim at all those criticising them for batting too slowly on the opening day, Pakistan had a simple response. You ain’t seen nothing yet.There were only nine runs in the first 10 overs – and among them were five successive maidens. The run – if you can call not scoring a run – made an early start by half an hour almost needless. Why bother when the game just struggled to move on?West Indies formed their second guard of honour of the Test as they welcomed Misbah after dismissing Younis Khan lbw for 18 off 75 balls. Then they outdid their generosity by dropping the Pakistan captain, playing his last Test, on 0. Squared up by a ball that shaped away, Misbah looked back to see his outside edge being dropped by Shane Dowrich. It was the wicketkeeper’s second drop of the Test, and it left Holder, the bowler, buckling at the knees.West Indies, for all their struggle to pick up wickets, did keep things quiet with the old ball. Eventually, Shannon Gabriel took the new one in the 89th over, which only provided a fresh signal for Pakistan to retreat further into their shell. Misbah had, at that point, uncoupled batting with scoring runs completely, at one stage having one run off 52 balls. Azhar at the other end finished the morning with 37 runs off 92 balls as Pakistan achieved their objective of not losing too many wickets.After lunch, however, Azhar was undone attempting a rare attacking stroke, a slog sweep over midwicket. He missed the ball by some distance it spun back into his stumps, bringing to an end a grinding hundred that had looked like hard work. Flickering signs of aggression emerged from Asad Shafiq, as he looked to go over the top in a bid to improve his side’s desperately poor run rate. However, he picked out long-on to give offspinner Roston Chase the third of his four wickets.A better side than West Indies would probably have punished Pakistan for their approach on Thursday, and West Indies themselves may yet do so. But, Misbah has made an art of being a contrarian, and as he leaves the Test arena, don’t bet against him proving everyone wrong one final time.