West Indies 166 for 6 (Chase 70*, Powell 38, Amir 2-26, Abbas 2-30) v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Roston Chase struck 11 fours in his unbeaten 70 © AFP
On a day when you could have watched David Warner score a 20-ball 50, or a number of mouth-watering Premier League clashes, deciding to tune into a Test that looked eerily like a repeat of the previous game requires an impressive degree of patience and faithfulness. And that is why, despite Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich’s fighting 47-run stand that tried to dig West Indies out of a hole yet again, their fans have reason to be frustrated: they’ve seen this before.
They went into the tea interval on 166 for 6, with Chase in danger of running out of partners even as a second Test ton looms.
West Indies switched gears right after lunch, taking 11 off the first over from debutant legspinner Shadab Khan. Chase was the chief aggressor as he began to grow comfortable on a pitch that flattened out slightly. Kieran Powell, who weathered the new ball burst in the first session with great degree of control, then unfurled a majestic square cut off Amir.
Amir, though, wouldn’t be the bowler he is if he were totally dependent on assistance from the conditions. Just as Powell might have begun to relax after that boundary, Amir came back two balls later with a yorker that tailed in at serious pace, taking the slow pitch out of the equation. The umpire turned down the appeal, but Misbah-ul-Haq and Amir were sure, and Hawk-Eye agreed with them upon review.
Vishaul Singh, the other newcomer to this team, was dismissed in identical circumstances to Shimron Hetmyer three overs later. Again, Mohammad Abbas was the bowler, and the line was outside off stump. Singh, much as Hetmyer had done, stuck out his bat when he was better off tucking it in. Younis Khan showed splendid reflexes to take the catch moving forward at second slip. At that stage, West Indies’ decision to leave out Jermaine Blackwood looked even more ill-advised.
Chase and Dowrich put together 47, all the more impressive as it came at over four runs per over. Both were quick to capitalise when the spinners missed their length, which happened fairly often in an indifferent session for both Yasir and Shadab, but the 18-year old got his revenge before tea He pitched one on a perfect length for a leg spinner, drawing Dowrich out of his crease, only to see his outside edge carry to Younis at slip.
West Indies had earlier won the toss and chosen to bat in favourable conditions, but a splendid new ball spell from both Amir and Abbas put them on the back foot straightaway. The wicket of Brathwaite had a sense of inevitability to it, the right-hander edging an Amir delivery that held its line. When Hetmyer fell flashing at a ball outside off stump, the lack of experience told.
While the pacers were having such a productive time, it was slightly surprising to see spin introduced as early as the eleventh over. There was sharp turn on offer for Yasir Shah, hardly a ringing endorsement of the wicket, what with this being the first morning of the Test. But with the under-fire Shai Hope having gone into his shell, Yasir pitched one on a length around middle stump. Hope failed to get on the front foot in time, and the ball took the edge through to Sarfraz Ahmed as West Indies slumped to 37 for 3.
With the wicket as conducive to spin, Shadab was called on to join Yasir into the attack before lunch. With Shadab and Yasir operating in tandem shortly before lunch, the game carried a day-five feel, and with West Indies aware of the quality of Pakistan’s spinners, the decision to prepare such a pitch seemed particularly inexplicable.
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo