<
>
Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Gabriel, Bishoo pin Pakistan down

Pakistan 255 for 8 (Aslam 74, Misbah 53, Younis 51, Sarfraz 51, Bishoo 4-74) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

After losing another toss and having to bowl again, West Indies rocked Pakistan with Shannon Gabriel's two wickets in the first over, and had a productive final session to leave Pakistan at 255 for 8 by the end of the first day in Sharjah. Sami Aslam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed all made fifties, but Pakistan were pegged back by untimely setbacks, partly of their own making.

Resuming at 148 for 3 after tea, Pakistan lost five wickets to concede the advantage to West Indies. Aslam, who had looked increasingly assured for his 74 off 172, was the first to depart. In the first over of the session, he gloved a reverse sweep over the wicketkeeper but Jason Holder ran around from first slip to take a simple catch. Misbah and Sarfraz then added 80 at more than four runs an over, before the Pakistan captain also perished to a reverse sweep that went wrong. Legspiner Devendra Bishoo was the bowler on both occasions and he finished with 4 for 74.

That was the start of Pakistan's silly season. Mohammad Nawaz charged at Bishoo, did not get anywhere near the pitch of the ball and was comprehensively beaten to set up a straightforward stumping. Sarfraz, having brought up an enterprising fifty, drove away from his body, off Gabriel, to drag the ball back onto his stumps. When Bishoo beat Wahab Riaz's limp forward prod to trap him lbw, Pakistan had lost their last four wickets for 18 runs. They added seven more, before bad light brought proceedings to a premature end, leaving Pakistan to rue the way they had relinquished a good position.

It could have been worse. Misbah began his 49th Test in charge - a Pakistan record - by winning his third toss of the series and opting to bat yet again. But that was where the sense of déjà vu ended.

Gabriel dismissed Azhar for a first-ball duck off just the second delivery of the match. Banging the ball in short of a length, he got it to rise awkwardly and swing away a touch, to hit the shoulder of the bat and provide a comfortable catch to Kraigg Brathwaite at second slip. It was the third time Gabriel had dismissed Azhar in the series.

Then, Gabriel nipped one back into Shafiq to beat his bat and hit his pad. It looked like the ball may have been going down leg, but West Indies reviewed Paul Reiffel's not-out decision and Hawk-Eye showed it hitting enough of leg stump to send the batsman on his way. Pakistan were 1 for 2.

A good start for West Indies could have been even better had Marlon Samuels, fielding at cover, hit the stumps at the keeper's end after Younis set off for a risky single in the second over. Sami Aslam would have been run-out by a distance.

But as both batsmen settled in, they played some lovely shots. Younis timed a half-volley through midwicket for a boundary and followed that up with a gorgeous cover drive a few overs later. Aslam played a beautiful drive through mid-off and unleashed a number of sweeps and slog sweeps. The two put on 106 runs for the third wicket.

Younis had a couple of lucky escapes in the 22nd over. He flicked a full ball from offspinner Roston Chase towards midwicket, where Leon Johnson, still wearing a helmet from his stint at a close-in position, dropped a tough catch. Two balls later, Younis charged out but missed a leg-side delivery; wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich fumbled the ball in his haste to effect the stumping and the batsman dived back in to safety.

Chase eventually had his man when Younis, on 51, top-edged an attempted sweep to square leg, where Johnson made amends for his earlier drop.

Pakistan's biggest reprieve of the day came halfway through the second session. In the 43rd over, with Misbah batting on 6, Gabriel went up for a big lbw appeal and reviewed the not-out decision. It was a full ball that pitched on off and seemed to miss Misbah's bat before hitting the pad. Then it hit the back pad, creating two noises and therefore doubt in the on-field umpire's mind. Without snicko or HotSpot to eliminate the possibility of an inside edge, third umpire Richard Illingworth felt there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the on-field call. Though the ball would have gone on to hit middle, Misbah survived and added another 47 to his score.

But Pakistan frittered away their advantage after tea, allowing West Indies to work through their middle and lower orders and have the better of the opening day.

New record

1

No. of openers to remain not out in both inning of a Test - Brathwaite in this match is the first to achieve this.

Rare away win

3

No. of Tests won by West Indies away from home since 2000, excluding B'desh and Zim, including this win. In 76 Tests since then, they lost 56 of them.

Brathwaite's match

2004

Last time a WI opener scored a century and a fifty in an away Test, excluding B'desh and Zim - Gayle in Centurion. Brathwaite has done it in this match.

Can WI pull a win?

0

No. of times West Indies have failed to chase targets of less than 200 in Tests, before this - won 51 and drawn 6.

Holder's best

3/15

Previous best figures for Holder in Tests, against Eng in Bridgetown in 2015. He has taken more than 3 wkts in this inns; first time in 20 Tests.

2 PAIRS in a YEAR

2

No of top-order batsman (1 to 6) to bag 2 pairs in a year before Asad Shafiq.The previous 2 were: Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 and Mark Waugh in 1992.

Batting through

5

No. of WI batsmen to carry their bat in a Test inns, including Brathwaite. The last was Gayle at Adelaide in 2008-09. Worrell, Hunte and Haynes (3) being others.

Finally a lead

13

No. of consecutive Tests where WI had conceded a first-inns lead (when they batted second), before this. They have taken a lead this time.

Big one this time

5

No. of 50s for Brathwaite without converting it into a century, before this knock. Prior to that he had converted 4 of 6 50s into 100s from June 2014 to April 2015.

Samuels' ducks

10

No. of ducks for Samuels in Tests since 2011 - the second-most by any top-order batsman (No. 1 to 7). Only Ross Taylor (12) has more ducks.

Four fifties, less total

1

No. of team totals lower than Pakistan's 281 to have four individual fifty-plus scores. NZ had made 275 with help of four 50s v Pak in Hamilton in 2010-11.

Long time ago

1990

Last time Pakistan failed to score 300-plus in the first inns of a Test against West Indies in UAE or at home. They could manage only 281 in this inns.

Searching for maiden 100

5

Fifties in 12 Test innings for Sami Aslam. He hasn't scored a century yet, though - his highest is 90

First-over crisis

2006

The last time Pakistan lost more than one wicket in the 1st over of a Test; they were 0 for 3 v Ind in Karachi, but won the game by 341 runs