After battling the intense last few overs from Pakistan bowlers, West Indies closed in at 40 for 1 at the end of Day Three of the second Test at Barbados. Opener Kraigg Brathwaite (8) and Shimron Hetmyer (22) have scored 32 runs together and are still trailing Pakistan by 41 runs with 9 wickets in hand. The hosts lost the wicket of in-form opener Kieran Powell early on as Mohammad Abbas took his fifth wicket of the game. With two more days of the game left, West Indies will have to play their skins out to avoid the repeat of their second innings performance from the series opener at Sabina Park, Kingston.
Pakistan resumed batting from 329 for 7 in the evening session. Prior to that, they had lost three wickets of Misbah-ul-Haq (99), Sarfraz ahmed (9) and Asad Shafiq (15) collapsing from 316 for 4 to 329 for 7. But debutant Shadab (16) – who also has a century in First-Class cricket batted well with the scoring precious runs down the order. He first scored 25 runs with Mohammad Aamer (10) for the eighth wicket before Aamer perished off Shannon Gabriel’s bowling.
He followed up the same with Yasir scoring 30 runs off 35 deliveries to take Pakistan well beyond the West Indies total of 312. Yasir too played a vital knock down the order scoring 24 off just 31 deliveries. The Pakistan tail added 64 runs together to hand Pakistan a healthy lead of 81 runs as their entire innings was bowled out for 393.
For West Indies, Gabriel was the best bowler having picked up 4 wickets for 81 runs followed by skipper Jason Holder (3 for 4) and spinner Devendra Bishoo (3 for 116)
West Indies needed a good start against a lethal pace attack and decreasing light. Powell and Brathwaite began the innings optimistically with Powell looking solid against Aamer and Abbas. But the new ball did the trick for Abbas as he bowled a length delivery which nipped back in sharply taking Powell’s inside edge. But wicketkeeper Sarfraz dived to his left taking an outstanding catch to put West Indies in a pressure situation.
The hosts had scored just 8 runs when they lost Powell as Hetmyer walked in to bat. With the ball zipping after pitching, Misbah handed the ball to Yasir and Shadab hoping to get at least one wicket before the day’s end. But both the batsmen ensured there were no further casualty as they took stumps at 40 for 1.
Initially, the start of the day saw Azhar Ali scoring his 13th Test hundred followed by Misbah getting dismissed for 99. Thanks to the pair, Pakistan managed a 81-run lead.
Brief scores:
West Indies 312 and 40 for 1 (Kraigg Brathwaite 8*, Kieran Powell 6, Shimron Hetmyer 22*; Mohammad Abbas 1 for 14) trail Pakistan for 393 (Azhar Ali 104, Misbah-ul-Haq 99; Devendra Bishoo 3 for 104, Jason Holder 2 for 23) by 41 runs.
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