Innings Pakistan 452 and 227 for 2 dec (Shafiq 58*, Younis 29*) lead West Indies 224 by 455 runs
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Asad Shafiq’s unbeaten 58 was his second half-century of the Abu Dhabi Test © AFP
Asad Shafiq scored his second half-century of the Abu Dhabi Test as Pakistan declared to set West Indies a target of 456 with five sessions still remaining. They declared at the stroke of lunch, at 227 for 2 in their second innings, with Shafiq batting on 58 and Younis Khan on 29. Azhar Ali, on 52 overnight, fell 21 short of a hundred that seemed to be there for the taking, but that was the only wicket West Indies took on the fourth morning as they set defensive fields and hoped to limit the damage Pakistan could inflict upon them.
In their desire to plug the boundaries, West Indies allowed Pakistan a steady stream of easy singles. As a result, despite only hitting three fours in that time, Shafiq and Azhar added 50 in the first 69 balls of the day, before Azhar, chasing away from his body, nicked to wide slip, giving Miguel Cummins his first wicket of the match.
By then, Pakistan’s lead was nearly 400. How much time would they want to give their bowlers to bowl West Indies out again? It turned out that the declaration would come very soon, but Pakistan’s batsmen gave few clues except when Shafiq ran down the pitch to Devendra Bishoo and hoicked him through square leg for his first boundary, to go from 25 to 29.
The runs came at a reasonable clip even without Pakistan really forcing the pace. Shafiq hit a couple of gorgeous shots as he approached his fifty, whipping Jason Holder between midwicket and mid-on, and then getting to the landmark with a deft late-cut off Roston Chase. At the other end, Younis punched Holder past his left hand and all the way to the straight boundary. By the time Pakistan declared, the two had put on 63 at 3.81 runs per over while barely breaking a sweat.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo