Lunch West Indies 38 for 3 (Brathwaite 21*, Blackwood 0*, Yasir 1-1) v Pakistan 281 (Aslam 74, Misbah 53, Bishoo 4-77, Gabriel 3-67)
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
West Indies wrapped up Pakistan’s innings in 7.5 overs on the second morning © AFP
In a first session that had five wickets falling for 64 runs, Pakistan pulled ahead, reducing West Indies to 38 for 3 after having been bowled out for 281 early in the day. Leon Johnson, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels all departed to leave West Indies behind the game once again.
Mohammad Amir troubled Johnson in the first over by swinging the ball away from the left-hander, before Wahab Riaz dismissed him for 1 with a straight ball that trapped him in front.
But it was towards the end of the session that the real damage was done. First, Bravo miscued a cross-batted swing off Zulfiqur Babar in the air towards midwicket. Amir turned around, ran back, put in a full-length dive and completed a stunning catch to get rid of West Indies’ best batsman. It was a spectacular way for him to take his first catch in Test cricket, in his 20th match, thereby claiming the dubious record of taking longest to get to the mark.
Not long after that, legspinner Yasir Shah trapped Samuels plumb in front and the batsman departed, but not before wasting a review. West Indies were sinking into a hole.
Earlier, with Pakistan resuming on 255 for 8, West Indies took the new ball first thing on the second morning, three overs after it had become available. They opened with Shannon Gabriel and Devendra Bishoo. While Gabriel bowled with decent control, Bishoo did not get much grip or turn from the surface and was taken off after two overs.
He was replaced by Alzarri Joseph, whom Amir greeted with consecutive boundaries. Joseph’s first ball was full and wide, and Amir played an extravagant drive through the covers for four. The next ball was short, but still provided width, and Amir slashed it in the air past gully for four. Later in the over, Shah cut past point for four more. Runs were beginning to leak in a frustrating ninth-wicket stand.
But West Indies’ frustration did not last too much longer. Both Amir and Yasir played onto their stumps in Joseph’s next over, to bring an end to Pakistan’s innings just 7.5 overs into the second day.
Sirish Raghavan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo