Lunch Pakistan 81 for 2 (Younis 39*, Aslam 37*) v West Indies
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Younis Khan survived a couple of close shaves during his third-wicket stand with Sami Aslam © Getty Images
Misbah-ul-Haq won his third toss of the series and opted to bat yet again, but the sense of déjà vu ended there. On a relatively fresh Sharjah surface, Shannon Gabriel rocked Pakistan with two strikes in the first over. Gabriel dismissed Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq for ducks, but Sami Aslam and Younis Khan weathered a nervy half an hour to steady Pakistan by lunch with an unbroken 80-run stand.
With the pitch offering more pace and carry than expected, Gabriel dismissed Azhar for a first-ball duck off just the second delivery of the match. Banging the ball in short of a length, Gabriel got it to rise awkwardly and leave Azhar a touch, hit the shoulder of the bat and provide a comfortable catch to Kraigg Brathwaite at second slip. It was the third time Gabriel dismissed Azhar in the series.
Two balls later, Gabriel nipped one back into Shafiq to beat his bat and hit his pad. It looked like it may have been going down leg, but West Indies reviewed Paul Reiffel’s not-out decision and Hawk-Eye showed it hitting enough of leg stump to send the batsman on his way. A good start for West Indies could have been even better had Marlon Samuels hit the stumps from cover after the batsmen set off for a risky run in the second over.
Aslam and Younis then survived a tricky half an hour in which Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph worked up appreciable pace and bounce. In the fifth over, Gabriel got a bouncer to nip back in to Younis to hit him on the neck, just below the grille of the helmet. Joseph, too, bowled with good rhythm and regularly hit the 140s in his six-over spell. He got Aslam to edge one just past Chase at third slip for a lucky boundary just before drinks.
But, as the batsmen settled in, they played some lovely shots and profited from the increasingly frequent loose balls from West Indies. Younis timed a half-volley through midwicket for a boundary and followed that up with a gorgeous cover drive a few overs later. Aslam played a beautiful drive through mid-off and unleashed a number of sweeps and slog sweeps. Spinners Roston Chase and Devendra Bishoo missed their lengths in their first few overs, releasing the pressure even more.
West Indies would also rue a couple of missed chances off Younis in the 22nd over. Younis flicked a full ball from Chase in the air towards midwicket, where Leon Johnson, still wearing a helmet from his stint at a close-in position, dropped it after a diving effort. Two balls later, Younis gave the charge but missed a leg-side delivery; wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich fumbled the ball in his haste to effect the stumping and Younis dived in safely. When Younis caressed a perfectly-timed on drive off Gabriel in the last over before lunch, West Indies might have been left wondering how costly those misses would be.
Sirish Raghavan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo