Visitors finished the day at 172/3 after a 155-run opening partnership with Ahmed Shehzad contributing 70.

By Abdullah Ansari (1st May, 2017)

Toss: West Indies won the toss, Jason Holder chose to bat first.

Teams

West Indies: KC Brathwaite, KOA Powell, SO Hetmyer, SD Hope, VA Singh, SO Dowrich†, RL Chase, JO Holder*, D Bishoo, AS Joseph, ST Gabriel

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas

Pakistan had an excellent start to the day as Abbas dismissed Holder on just the third delivery with one that seamed it with the batsman indecisive, resulting in him getting a thin nick through to the keeper. It got even better as just one over later, Chase tentatively played at a delivery outside off from Amir and edged it behind with Younis safely pouching yet another catch in the slips. Bishoo was once again defiant, proving tricky to dismiss while Joseph got away a couple of boundaries. The leg-spinner was the one to be dismissed first as he tried to smash Abbas over the top but couldn't clear the fielder and Joseph fell in the next over, much to Yasir's delight as he missed a full toss and was bowled. The innings was wrapped up in under 10 overs on Day 2 for 312.

Gabriel and Joseph began proceedings for West Indies and the former almost dismissed Shehzad in just his second over as the batsman lobbed one to mid-on, but Singh didn't judge it well and couldn't hold on to it. The fast bowler from the outset looked to be putting a lot of effort and consequently bowled regular no-balls despite testing the batsmen quite a bit. Azhar looked to be positive when he got the chance but Shehzad struggled initially as he tried to fight it out. The batsmen went to Lunch with Pakistan at 36/0.

Shehzad got his first run in almost 30 deliveries after the break but his struggles continued as he almost chopped one onto his stumps and found runs hard to come by, with his strike-rate dropping into the 20s. Soon after the fifty partnership was raised, Shehzad was trapped in front of the stumps by Gabriel and the umpire raised the finger. It looked to be plumb the batsman decided to go for the review. It proved to be a good choice, as replays showed that the fast-bowler had once again over-stepped. Azhar got a leading edge off Chase's bowling but the bowler didn't follow the chance and didn't try to catch it as the opener continued on his merry way as he soon brought up his fifty. Shehzad was soon stumped as he advanced down the pitch to Bishoo and the leggie fired it down the leg-side but he got yet another reprieve as replays showed that the spinner had over-stepped for the first time in his Test career. Pakistan went to the Tea break with the score at 106/0.

Soon after the resumption, West Indies appealed for LBW against Shehzad and followed it up with a review; however, the ball was missing the stumps by a large margin. The batsman was slightly more fluent thereafter and soon brought up his fifty as the partnership grew. Azhar had slowed down a touch by then which allowed his opening partner to catch up with his total. There were still some testing periods for the openers and they had to showcase their patience. The 150 partnership was brought up in the 54th over of the innings. It soon came to an end, however, as Shehzad finally perished, caught at slip off Bishoo for a streaky 70. That opened the floodgates somewhat, as Babar fell for a two-ball duck. He tried to turn a delivery from Gabriel to the leg-side but got a leading edge as the bowler took a simple catch. Younis didn't hang around for long as he struggled to settle down and eventually fell to a long hop from Bishoo, pulling it straight to the man at short-midwicket as Pakistan lost the initiative. Azhar and Misbah were very circumspect after that, playing out the overs and looking to survive with play called off early due to bad light with Pakistan at 172/3 and Azhar on 81.

Summary: Another fairly even day of Test cricket. Pakistan were in the lead for much of the day but West Indies hit back in the final session to even things out. The visitors would have been very happy to wrap up the innings for 312 after an ominous looking partnership between Chase and Holder was finally broken. The opening partnership for Pakistan was solid, notwithstanding the several chances Shehzad got at the crease but once he was dismissed, the loss of Babar and Younis for ducks will leave West Indies with some hope ahead of Day 3 that if they can break through and then strike with the second new ball, they could yet get a lead. Azhar is the one standing in their way as he nears his 13th Test ton.

Fall of wickets: 

7-286 (Holder, 89.3 ov)
8-286 (Chase, 90.3 ov)
9-312 (Bishoo, 97.1 ov)
10-312 (Joseph, 98.5 ov)

1-155 (Ahmed Shehzad, 55.5 ov)
2-156 (Babar Azam, 56.2 ov)
3-161 (Younis Khan, 59.4 ov)

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