Pakistan And West Indies Match
After losing a close encounter in the 1st test, Pakistan came back strongly and won the 2nd test by 109 runs. The scoreline doesn’t tell the exact story as the host were completely outplayed against a star-studded Pakistani team. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. Pakistan made 302 in the first innings courtesy century by veteran Fawad Alam. Babar Azam played a handy knock of 75 and on a sluggish wicket, the score was enough to take some lead.
West Indies were bundled out for 150 in the first session but the rain took quite some time of the match. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the pick of the bowlers with 6 for 51 and Mohammad Abbas also picked 3 wickets. For West Indies, Nkrumah Bonner was the highest scorer with 37. With a lead in excess of 150, it was a matter of time before Pakistan would have declared and gone all out to rattle the West Indies line up once again.
Pakistan in their second innings showed some intent and declared as soon as the lead went past 300. 329 was the target set and Pakistan gave themselves 5 sessions as the rain was expected later in the 5th day. West Indies on the other started strong as Keiran Powell looked like he was going for victory. He started playing some shots but was run out against the run of play. Alzarri Joseph was sent as the night watchman and he obliged by playing out the 5th session but soon before the day’s play was about to conclude, he was undone by Shaheen Afridi.
The third day started with Pakistan getting Bonner early and Blackwood and Braithwaite had a little partnership but once that partnership was broken, wickets started coming thick and fast for the visitors. Jason Holder did his best to not just hold one end but also scored quickly after coming at number 8. West Indies batted much better than the 1st innings but it was Shaheen Afridi who made the whole difference. He picked 4 in the second innings and thereby also picked his first 10 wicket haul of the career. He was heavily criticized for his performance in England but redeemed himself brilliantly in West Indies.
For his performances in both the tests, he was awarded Man of the Series along with Man of the Match. Pakistan’s intensity in the series was amazing. They are often considered as a laid-back team that doesn’t take test cricket seriously. However, they picked up some important WTC points and West Indies wouldn’t feel bad either. Even they got some points and have opened their account for WTC points.
Pakistan was scheduled to play ODI against Afghanistan but the series is cancelled. Pakistan now has a home series against New Zealand before the World T20. Pakistan’s bowling look settled and will be trying out the batting combination that they will have in the T20 World Cup. New Zealand on the other hand has sent a second-string team to Pakistan as most of their A players will be busy playing IPL during that time.