Bridgetown - West Indies hit back with three wickets in the
final hour after a 155-run opening stand as Pakistan reached stumps at 162 for
three in reply to the home side's first innings total of 312 on the second day
of the second Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Monday.
Azhar Ali held firm at one end for an unbeaten 81 in a
five-hour vigil after opening partner Ahmed Shehzad rode outrageous moments of
luck to contribute 70 in the first-wicket partnership. He resumes on the third
morning alongside captain Misbah ul Haq.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo eventually broke through for the
home side by having Shehzad caught at slip before adding the prized scalp of
Younis Khan for a "duck" when the veteran pulled a long-hop to
Shannon Gabriel at midwicket.
In between those dismissals, Gabriel removed Babar Azam,
also without scoring, to a catch off his own bowling. It was no more than the
burly fast bowler deserved although his earlier misfortune was compounded by
chronic no-ball problems.
Dropped at mid-on by Vishaul Singh just as Pakistan started
their reply in the morning session, Shehzad was then ruled LBW off Gabriel when
on 21 in the post-lunch period only for the decision to be overturned after
television replays determined the delivery to be a no-ball.
Lightning then struck twice for the same man after he was
stranded down the pitch and stumped to the bowling of off-spinner Roston Chase
on 32, the batsman almost reaching the pavilion when he was summoned by the
umpires to return to the crease as the replays again showed the bowler to have
transgressed the front crease.
"There was variable bounce out there so it was really
difficult to get going, but I have to admit that I had more than my fair share
of luck," said Shehzad.
"I can't give enough credit to Azhar for the way he has played and if he can continue on the third day and help give us a lead, then we have a good chance to win this match and the series."
Those lucky moments consolidated what had been Pakistan's
day until the final hour after they wrapped up the West Indies first innings
within an hour of the start.
Mohammad Abbas led the visiting bowlers' effort with two
more wickets to finish with four for 56, the best figures by a Pakistan fast
bowler in Test innings at the venue, bettering Wasim Akram's four for 73 in
1988, as the home team lost their last four wickets for the addition of 26 more
runs.
West Indies' hopes of pushing towards a total closer to the
400-run mark were dashed within the first nine deliveries of the morning as
their first-day heroes, Chase and Jason Holder, were dismissed without any
addition to the overnight total of 286 for six.
Holder was the first to go, his late decision to pull away
from an Abbas delivery resulting in an inside-edge to wicketkeeper Sarfraz
Ahmed. Mohammad Amir then removed Chase, whose 131 was the first Test century
by a Barbadian on home soil for 18 years. Drawn forward by a full-length
delivery, his indeterminate prod resulted in a thick outside edge for Younis
Khan to snare his third catch of the innings at second slip.
Bishoo played in his usual pugnacious manner but Abbas' request of his captain for another over reaped immediate rewards when Bishoo lifted an on-drive to Yasir Shah at mid-on. Shah then wrapped up the innings when Alzarri Joseph was bowled missing a heave at a full-toss in the leg-spinner's first over of the morning.