Jamaica, 14 August 2021: A brilliant 97 by West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite had the hosts lead Pakistan by 34 runs at stumps on day two of the first Test at Sabina Park on Friday.
Brathwaite struck 12 fours before he fell three runs short of a century, thanks to a direct-hit from Hasan Ali. Over the course of his 221-ball stay at the crease, the West Indies captain, staged an epic recovery with Jason Holder, who scored a half-century, by adding 96 runs for the sixth wicket.
Before the end of play, West Indies, in Pakistan’s reply of 217, had piled up 251 for the loss of eight wickets.
It was Hasan who provided Pakistan their first breakthrough of the day when he induced a drive from Roston Chase, only for the ball to nick into Mohammad Rizwan’s hands.
The second session began with the Pakistan bowlers building up the pressure on the hosts with spicy lateral movement both in the air and off the surface.
Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up back to back wickets, accounting for Jermaine Blackwood and Kyle Mayers. Two balls later, his in-swinger thudded on Holder’s pads. The umpire raised his finger, much to Pakistan’s delight, but the review showed the ball to be pitching outside the leg-stump line. West Indies at this stage were 100 for five and 117 runs behind Pakistan’s 217.
Holder scored 58 off 108 and scored 10 fours.
Mohammad Abbas added to his wickets column after providing a fabulous start in the dying moments of the first day’s play with the dismissal of Kemar Roach.
On Saturday, wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and Jomel Warrican will continue the proceedings for the hosts.
Scores in brief:
Pakistan 217 all out, 70.3 overs (Fawad Alam 56, Faheem Ashraf 44,Babar Azam 30; Jason Holder 3-26, Jayden Seales 3-70, Kemar Roach 2-47)
West Indies 251-8, 87 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 97, Jason Holder 58, Joshua Da Silva 20 not out; Mohammad Abbas 3-42, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-59)
