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Pakistan 230 (Shakeel 84, Rizwan 71, Seales 3-27) and 157 (Masood 52, Warrican 7-32) beat West Indies 137 (Warrican 31*, Noman 5-39, Sajid 4-65) and 123 (Athanaze 55, Sajid 5-50, Abrar 4-27) by 127 runs
West Indies had about 15 overs to face before lunch, and Pakistan just about made victory safe in this time. The visitors began with positive intent, having realised that poking and prodding would get them nowhere. It saw them through the first four overs, but as Sajid said yesterday, the strategy was to attack with the ball and defend with the field. Brathwaite employed the slog sweep to good effect so Pakistan had a fielder at deep midwicket, and it was him that the opener picked out to give Pakistan their first breakthrough.
But the momentum shifted once more when Shan Masood turned to Abrar Ahmed. The slightly different challenge his legspin poses saw a beauty to dismiss Imlach, the ball drifting in and ripping away to take his outside edge. He would also break the next partnership, thanks to some variable bounce and a splendid diving catch at first slip from Salman Agha, before Agha took the regulation catch the following ball to send Gudakesh Motie on his way.
By now, West Indies’ resistance had been completely broken. Athanaze missed a straight one from Sajid to leave Pakistan one away, and Abrar put a bow on proceedings as the shot West Indies played often to try to cope on this surface – the high-risk reverse sweep – carried onto the stumps.
Kamran Ghulam had hung around until then, but some extra turn from Warrican drew his outside edge to give Warrican his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. West Indies began to burrow into the tail as Warrican grew in confidence. He varied his pace to trap Noman in front of the stumps as he tried a reverse sweep, before making it seven when Sajid miscued a slog and got an edge to backward point.
The ninth wicket did not register directly in Warrican’s account, but it may as well have. Agha prodded one to him on the off side and hared off for a single, but Warrican picked up cleanly and hit the stumps direct, catching Khurram Shahzad well out of his crease. The innings wrapped up when Agha tried to go over the top against Motie, only to find long-off, and Pakistan were all out for 157.
On a surface like this, and with the spinners Pakistan have, though, it was still, by some distance, more than enough.