Afridi, Abbas give Pakistan chance to level Test series

Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged career best figures as Pakistan are in poll position to level the two-match Test series at Sabina Park.

West Indies still required 280 runs to win with nine wickets in hand on the last day of the second Test.

Kieran Powell (23) was saint back to the pavilion courtesy of a brilliant fielding effort from Shaheen Afridi. At stumps captain Kraigg Brathwaite and night watchman Alzarri Joseph were unbeaten on 17 and eight respectively.

After bowling out West Indie for 150, Pakistan declared their inning with 176 for six having set 328-run target to win.

Opener Imran Butt was the top scorer with 37 off 44 balls. He was well supported by skipper Babar Azam, who scored 33.

Abid Ali and Azhar Ali also contributed with 29 and 22 respectively.

Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph shared two wickets each for the home side.

Earlier, Mohammad Abbas triggered a collapse with a three-wicket burst in the last half-hour of the morning session as the West Indies slipped to 123 for eight at lunch in reply to Pakistan’s first innings total of 302 for nine.

Abbas, who had gone wicketless before his latest spell, dismissed Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers off successive balls before adding Joshua da Silva to his haul in the penultimate over before lunch.

After the break, the visitors only managed to add 27 runs to the total before getting bowled out still trailing by 152 in the first innings.

Resuming from the overnight position of 39 for three, the hosts suffered an early setback when night watchman Alzarri Joseph became the third victim of Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Consistently the most effective of the tourists’ bowlers in this brief series, the left-armer induced an edge from the tall right-hander for Pakistan captain Babar Azam to take a good catch at third slip.

West Indies then enjoyed their best period of batting with Bonner, the other overnight batsman, and Jermaine Blackwood putting on 60 for the fifth wicket although it was not without its moments of indecision and anxiety against a persevering Pakistan attack.

That persistence paid off when Bonner was drawn forward by Abbas and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan took the low catch to dismiss him for 37. Mayers lasted just one ball for the second time in three innings as he fell for his third consecutive “duck” courtesy of the Abbas-Rizwan double-act.

Shaheen then produced a sharp lifter which Blackwood (33) could only fend to gully where Fawad Alam held the diving catch before Abbas and Rizwan combined for the third time in a few minutes to end da Silva’s brief tenure in the middle.

Shaheen’s figures at the interval were four for 40 with Abbas having taken three for 26.

With more than four sessions of play already lost to rain and a sodden outfield over the weekend, the onus remains on Pakistan to ensure they claim a significant first innings lead in the early afternoon and then seek to build a sizeable overall advantage before pushing for a series-levelling victory on the final day on Tuesday.

Teams

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Kieran Powell, Nkrumah Bonner, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Joshua Da Silva (wicketkeeper), Jason Holder, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph.

Pakistan: Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Nauman Ali, Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi.