They gave the hosts a 93-run first-innings lead, which Pakistan grew to 202 courtesy Shan Masood’s fifty
Danyal Rasool18-Jan-2025Noman Ali and Sajid Khan put on a spin-bowling masterclass on a surface they found to their tastes, taking nine of the ten wickets to skittle West Indies out for 137 in less than a session. Either side of that, Pakistan fared better with the bat, putting up 230 in the first innings despite a collapse after Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan’s 141-run stand was broken.But they pulled away from the visitors in the final session with a commanding second-innings show with the bat. That was spearheaded by their captain Shan Masood, whose half-century drove Pakistan’s lead to 202 with seven wickets still in hand. The dominant story of a day when 19 wickets fell, though, came in the middle session, where West Indies had little answer to Noman and Sajid, who bowled all but 14 deliveries of their innings.Sajid started the dismantling in just his second over when he dismissed Mikyle Louis and Keacy Carty off successive balls, even as Carty fell thanks to a superb slip catch from Mohammad Hurraira. By the end of his third over, Sajid had four wickets as West Indies floundered, unable to either defend or attack against an unerringly accurate spin duo.Noman joined the fun, getting drift and turn to clip the edge of Justin Greaves’ off stump. It was the first of five wickets for the left-armer, who was beginning to get huge rip off the barely formed footmarks.As the innings proceeded, West Indies began to adopt a more bellicose outlook, trying to swindle some runs along the way. But there was limited success as multiple batters dragged it on to their stumps, before the final two partnerships flourished. Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican began to play belligerent shots, with Warrican utilising the back of the bat while playing the reverse sweeps a handful of times.Shan Masood was adept against spin bowling•AFP/Getty Images
From 66 for 8 at one stage, West Indies added 71 for the last two wickets. After Motie and Warrican had a partnership of 25, it was only during the last-wicket stand between Warrican and Jayden Seales when West Indies dominated the spinners. Both batters connected cleanly as they hit the spinners over cow corner for multiple sixes.That forced Pakistan into bringing on Abrar Ahmed for the first time. Eventually, Abrar did end the partnership, but only after the pair had plundered 46 runs off 21 balls. Seales failed to pick up a googly and miscued it straight up, as Rizwan took the catch and ended the punchy counterattack.If West Indies thought that their collapse against spin meant they too would be among the wickets in the final session, Masood and Hurraira soon disabused them off that notion. Seales, whose pace and seam movement had made him the surprise pick of the bowlers on the first day, reprised his potent threat but without the wickets that would reflect this in the scorecard.Masood, meanwhile, was proactive in his use of the feet, and adept against spin bowling, eager to attack and expand the lead even further before the day was done. Some untidiness crept into the bowling; there were 12 byes as the spin became as tricky to handle for the bowlers as it was for the batters. But Warrican was dangerous with the one that carried on with the arm, and got both his wickets that way – Hurraira at first, before Babar Azam played for the spin and found himself rapped in front of middle.West Indies were unfortunate not to snare Kamran Ghulam too when a miscued sweep struck him on the arm as he got down low. The umpire raised the finger, although HawkEye, incongruously, projected the ball to be rising well above the stumps.Jomel Warrican took three wickets in the first innings, before hitting 31* with the bat•PCB
As if to compensate, West Indies were gifted the wicket of Masood. He called for a run and didn’t quite realise that Ghulam was well down the pitch in response, and found himself stranded in the middle of the pitch. Thus, Masood was left with little chance of getting to the non-striker’s end, before Warrican whipped the bails off.Earlier, during the morning session, West Indies took four wickets for 13 runs to trigger a Pakistan collapse. That started by breaking the stand between Shakeel and Rizwan, leaving West Indies two wickets away from wrapping the hosts up. Shakeel and Rizwan had begun with the same authority with which they had ended the first day. But once Kevin Sinclair snared Shakeel 16 short of what would have been his fifth Test hundred, Pakistan’s resistance melted away.Only a punchy rearguard partnership between Sajid and Khurram Shahzad prevented West Indies from running through the innings even sooner, but Pakistan were still bowled out for 230 on the stroke of lunch.West Indies had begun the day by sticking to disciplined and tight lines, at one point conceding six runs in seven overs as Seales and Warrican locked in. But neither batter offered up chances during this time, and when Pakistan negotiated the first hour without loss, West Indies were in danger of being shut out of the game.Saud Shakeel fell 16 short of what would have been his fifth Test hundred•AFP/Getty Images
But the first ball after drinks brought joy for West Indies. Sinclair lured Shakeel forward before getting the ball to grip, and then taking his edge. As if it had been forgotten, the pitch suddenly began to remind everyone how hostile it could be to batters against quality spin, as the ball hissed and spat off the surface.Salman Ali Agha was deceived in the flight from Warrican to drag on before Pakistan imploded. A bizarre mix-up between Rizwan and Noman saw the former turn his back on Noman to leave him unsuccessfully scrambling to return to the non-striker’s end. But an attempted reverse sweep off the next delivery ended Rizwan’s own innings, as a sharp review from West Indies finished Rizwan’s innings on 71.It was only an entertaining stand from Sajid and Shahzad that saw a few more runs flow for Pakistan, before the innings petered out. Sajid launched Sinclair over cow corner for six amid a little flurry as Pakistan added 25 quickfire runs. But Warrican returned to fold the innings, making short work of both, as West Indies took the last six wickets for 43 runs in a session of two halves. It was a harbinger for the rest of the day, when the wicket-taking continued unabated.