Pakistan bat as Younis returns

Toss Pakistan chose to bat v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Younis Khan returned to Pakistan’s line-up in place of Babar Azam © AFP

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, chose to bat in the second Test against West Indies in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan made three changes to the XI from Dubai, resting fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz and bringing Younis Khan back into their XI after his full recovery from dengue.

Younis replaced Babar Azam, while Rahat Ali and the left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar replaced Amir and Wahab. This meant Pakistan played an extra spinner alongside Yasir Shah and Mohammad Nawaz.

West Indies were forced to make one change as their wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich pulled up injured in training and was replaced by Shai Hope. Hope scored half-centuries in each of the two warm-up matches before the Test series. Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, said he would have opted to bat too, on a pitch that he felt looked drier than the one in Dubai.

Misbah said he expected the pitch to slow down with time and assist the spinners. He also said the team would feel more comfortable with the red ball after playing the first Test under lights with the pink ball, which he felt had “uncertainty about swing”. Holder expressed similar sentiments, and added that West Indies would have to step up while fielding since dropped catches cost them in the first innings in the first Test.

Pakistan won the first Test by 56 runs in Dubai, completing a hard-fought victory in the last hour of the fifth day.

Pakistan 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Sohail Khan, 10 Zulfiqar Babar, 11 Rahat Ali

West Indies 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Leon Johnson, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Shai Hope (wk), 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Miguel Cummins, 11 Shannon Gabriel

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.


Source: ESPN Crickinfo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *