West Indies 151 for 6 (Chase 11*, Hope 1*, Rahat 3-45) trail Pakistan 452 by 301 runs
Rahat Ali had Jermaine Blackwood caught behind to give Pakistan their first breakthrough of the day © Getty Images
Pakistan made slow but steady progress towards a position of dominance in the second Test, taking two wickets on the third morning and conceding just 45 runs during a session in which they kept West Indies’ batsmen on a tight leash. Overnight batsmen Devendra Bishoo and Jermaine Blackwood were both dismissed as West Indies went into lunch on 151 for 6.
Having lost two wickets in the last seven balls on the previous day, West Indies began the third day well behind the game, trailing by 346 in the first innings with four wickets down. Nightwatchman Bishoo might understandably have been carrying a few scars from the second evening, having been involved – and arguably culpable – in the run-out of Kraigg Brathwaite in the last over of the day. But he shrugged all of that off to guts out a 66-ball stay in the middle that, while not always convincing, helped West Indies repel many of Pakistan’s early efforts.
Bishoo struggled against Rahat Ali’s outswing, repeatedly playing and missing outside off stump with no footwork. He got off the mark in his 20th ball with a cross-batted swipe through midwicket off Yasir Shah. His first boundary came off his 50th ball with a similar shot, this time off Zulfiqar Babar. By that stage, Bishoo’s stubborn knock was frustrating Pakistan. In Babar’s next over, the bowler went up for a big lbw appeal after Bishoo missed a sweep; Pakistan reviewed the not-out decision, only to find that the impact was just outside off. That exhausted Pakistan’s reviews.
But Bishoo did not last too much longer. He had his off-stump floored by Sohail Khan who angled the ball away from the left-hander to beat his outside edge and give Pakistan their second wicket of the morning. The first, that of Blackwood, had come about half an hour into the session with only 15 runs having been added to the overnight score of 106 for 4. Blackwood took a couple of steps down the track, before playing a loose, half-hearted drive to a Rahat delivery moving away from him; Sarfraz Ahmed collected a good, low catch to his right.
A partnership of 23 off 71 between Bishoo and Roston Chase followed, but, once that was broken, West Indies’ innings ground to a halt, with Chase and Shai Hope putting on 7 off 49 – two of them leg-byes – in the period of play leading into lunch.
Sirish Raghavan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo