West Indies take control as Pakistan lose four in the chase

The Multan Test continued to move forward at full throttle on a treacherous pitch on Day 2 as Pakistan finished 76/4 chasing 254 against the West Indies. The visitors started Day 2 with a nine-run lead, but also with the knowledge that Pakistan’s spinners could run riot on a spin harbor on a surface. West Indies thus counter-attacked and did well across just over two sessions to post a daunting target. Pakistan lost their openers early but got Babar Azam to steady the ship, only to fall less than 10 minutes from stumps.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite spearheaded his side’s attempts to get quick runs, resorting to sweeps and reverse-sweeps against Pakistani spinners in the morning session. He had early success, scoring a spirited half-century in the company of no. 3-seamer Amir Jangoo, who pulled off his first-innings return of a golden duck to score his first runs in the format. Brathwaite was on the right side of four DRS calls, two taken by himself and two by Pakistan, to reach his milestone but couldn’t make it count further as he fell to first-innings hat-trick hero Noman Ali.

Debutant Jangoo, meanwhile, towed the line established by his captain, taking risks with sweeps and drives. However, one such attempt ended his stay and gave Sajid Khan a wicket. Eager to push through, Pakistan lost all their reviews before lunch but managed to break through twice more as Noman denied Alick Athanaze and Kavem Hodge.

The difference between Pakistan taking full control and the West Indies leaving at stumps and optimistic about series parity hinged on how the second session went. The West Indies emerged through small but significant contributions from the quartet of Tevin Imlach (35), Kevin Sinclair (28), Gudakesh Motie (18) and Jomel Warrican (18). Even these four fought fire with fire, the ball still spinning viciously.

Abrar Ahmed broke early in the second session, dismissing Justin Greaves and leaving West Indies down to 145/6. From this point, Imlach and Sinclair added the most important partnership in the innings, pushing their lead to 200. Sajid Khan ended this alliance with the wicket of Sinclair, and Imlach became the only victim of pacer Kashif Ali after a smart 57-ball stay. Motie and Warrican then frustrated Pakistan by adding another 27 runs to loosen the home side’s grip on the match. Even when that stand was broken, an injured Kemar Roach hobbled out to the middle and faced 17 deliveries to add 11 runs with Warrican before the latter was dismissed to end the innings.

Pakistan made a rocky start to their chase of 254 as Sinclair and Motie caught Shan Masood and Muhammad Hurraira leg respectively to reduce them to 5/2. Azam and Kamran Ghulam retreated for a short period before the latter perished while trying to take on Warrican.

Saud Shakeel and Azam almost made it to the end of the day’s play without further damage to Pakistan, but Sinclair struck again. Azam was unsure whether to commit to defending a looping length ball that turned in sharply. He went for it eventually, clipping it onto his front pad, who then lobbed up to Athanaze at short leg. Nightwatchman Kashif Ali struck off 10 deliveries and Pakistan went to rock bottom still needing 178 runs to win. The West Indies, meanwhile, are six wickets from sharing the spoils of the series.

Short results: Pakistan 154 & 76/4 (Babar Azam 31; Kevin Sinclair 2-41) trail West Indies 163 & 244 (Kraigg Brathwaite 52, Tevin Imlach 35, Kevin Sinclair 28; Sajid Khan 4-76, Noman Ali 4-80) by 1780 runs