Mohammad Abbas picked up two wickets and a gritty fifty from Fawad Alam helped Pakistan establish a strong position on the first day of the first Test in Jamaica against West Indies.
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Fawad Alam’s gritty fifty and his crucial partnership of 85 with Faheem Ashraf had rescued Pakistan on day 1 of the first Test against West Indies in Sabina Park. But, Mohammad Abbas’ late strikes towards the fag end of the day has tilted the advantage firmly to Pakistan after the West Indies were reduced to 2/2 in response to the visitors’ 217 all out. On a pitch that had something in it for the bowlers, West Indies bowlers let the advantage slip after the Pakistan top order floundered.
West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl. Pakistan’s openers survived the first six overs well but Kemar Roach had other plans. The West Indies veteran got the wicket of Imran Butt. Roach’s new-ball partner, Jayden Seales got the wicket of Abid Ali cheaply. Babar Azam and Azhar Ali looked to steady the innings but an early lunch was taken due to rain. After a one-hour rain delay, the match resumed.
After the break, Azhar Ali was given out caught behind but he managed to overturn the decision. Azhar was once again given out LBW but he used the DRS to perfection. It looked like it would be his day. In his previous encounter, Azhar had smashed 302 in the Pink Ball Test in Dubai and he looked to continue in good vein.
Azhar continued to lead a charmed life as he benefited from two umpire’s calls in the space of a couple of overs. West Indies’ frustrations were mounting but Seales finally got the wicket of Azhar for 17 when the batsman edged it to second slip. The luck of the DRS finally went West Indies’ way when Roach dismissed Babar Azam for 30.
Rizwan looked to break the shackles with a couple of fours off Seales but Jason Holder got Rizwan for 23. Pakistan were in trouble at 101/5 but Fawad Alam was joined by Faheem Ashraf.
Ashraf and Fawad Alam both held firm until the tea break as West Indies’ bowlers maintained good discipline. After the break, Ashraf looked in good touch with three boundaries. Alam also hung around and continued his great run. The partnership crossed 50 and West Indies were starting to get worried.
However, Pakistan undid all the hard work when Ashraf was run-out for 44. Fawad Alam notched up his fifty with a four off Kyle Mayers. Pakistan went past 200 with Hasan Ali hitting two fours off Seales. But, the bowler sent back Hasan Ali for 14 and Jason Holder finished off the innings with the wickets of Fawad Alam for 56 and Mohammad Abbas for a first-ball duck. Pakistan ended on 217 and it looked like West Indies held the advantage.
Pakistan started brilliantly and Mohammad Abbas was on the money straight away. He dismissed Kieran Powell and immediately sent back Nkrumah Bonner to be on a hat-trick. Roston Chase survived the hat-trick ball. However, Pakistan were denied by bad light as stumps were called early.
After the day’s play, Jason Holder called for more application from the West Indies batsmen. “We would have taken this first innings total, disciplined bowling by everyone. Just need to apply ourselves with the bat, give ourselves a good chance to get a really big score. The partnership of Babar and Azhar Ali was a good example of it and also two left-handers in the middle, Fawad and Faheem and I think they put up a really good partnership and I think that is one positive we can take from them and apply ourselves better with the bat,” Holder said.
