Windies lead by 138 runs at lunch as Pakistan spinners claim 5 wickets

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MULTAN: Before the home side’s bowlers regained their form, the West Indies hitters put up an early resistance against Pakistan’s spin attack as they piled on the runs on the spin-friendly Multan Cricket Stadium pitch on Sunday.

On the heels of a low-scoring first innings, Windies led the match at 138 for 5 at lunch, thanks to a half-century from skipper Craig Braithwaite in the second innings.

Early on, the hosts looked a bit rattled, with most of their wickets intact, contrary to expectations given how the pitch had behaved earlier.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan won the first Test at the same venue by 127 runs, in a match that was completed within three days – the shortest completed by men in Pakistan.

Mohammad Rizwan dismissed Brathwaite (52) off Nouman Ali as Pakistan resumed their streak of bagging wickets.

Opener Mikail Lewis was early routed cheaply by Nauman for 7. Aamir Jango (30) stood with the captain in his field until Sajid Khan trapped him.

After that, Kaveem Hajj (15) was also stumped off Nauman by Rizwan, who also dismissed Alec Atnaze (6) at the end of the first session.

The opening day was also dominated by spinners, with Nauman Ali taking a hat-trick for the home side during his impressive 6-41 spell.

Jameel Warkin took 4 for 43, while Gadkesh Moti made 3 for 49, as Pakistan were dismissed for 154 in their first innings, in reply to the West Indian total of 163.

Earlier, after 41.1 overs, West Indies were bowled out on a stroke by Lynch, who had elected to bat first.

However, the visitors responded with a remarkable display of spin bowling, as 16 wickets fell to the spinners – the highest number of such dismissals on the opening day of a Test match.

The previous record of 14 wickets by spinners was set in 1907 during a match between England and South Africa at Leeds.

Only Mohammad Rizwan (49) and Saud Shakeel (32) batted confidently for the home side, who added 68 for the fifth wicket before Pakistan collapsed from 119-4 to 154-for-35. Lost the last by six wickets.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach dismissed openers Mohammad Haraira (nine) and Shaun Masood (15), while Mouti sent back Babar Azam (one) and Kamran Ghulam (16) to leave Pakistan on 51-4.

In the post-tea session, Shakeel was caught in the deep by Roach—who hurt his back but completed the catch—while Rizwan was on the stumps, both falling to Warkin.

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Moti had Salman Agha for nine while last man Kashif Ali was bowled out.

Earlier, the West Indies were at 7-38 with Sajid Khan 2-64 and Nauman at the loss.

It could have been worse for the tourists for Mott—who scored with a career-best 55—with Warwick not adding a priceless 68 for the last wicket, who made 36 with two sixes. .

Moti added 41 for the ninth wicket with Roach (25) to delay the lunch break, before Nauman took the last two wickets for his eighth five-wicket haul of the innings.

Pakistan used the same spin-heavy tactics that saw them win by 127 runs in the first Test – also in Multan – with the ball turning from the first over.

Nauman came on to bowl as the first change, and before he caught West Indian skipper Craig Braithwaite leg before the end of the nine to slip the tourists from 32-2 to 38-8 in just 14 deliveries.

Naumann dismissed Justin Greaves for one, then Tevin Emlach and Kevin Sinclair finished off successive deliveries to become the fifth Pakistan bowler to capture the Test hat-trick.

Fast bowlers Wasim Akram (two hat-tricks against Sri Lanka in 1999), Abdul Razzaq (against Sri Lanka in 2000), Mohammad Sami (also against Sri Lanka in 2002), and Naseem Shah (against Bangladesh in 2020) ) achieved this feat. Before that, Pakistan.

Off-spinner Sajid dismissed openers Amir Jango and Alec Atnaze – both without scoring – while Abrar Ahmed chipped in with 21 runs.

Debutant pacer Kashif had Mikail Lewis for four in his first over.

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.