Pakistan smell series win
Abu Dhabi, October 24
Pakistan pressed West Indies hard for a series-clinching win in the second Test after setting a daunting 456-run target on the fourth day here.
By close of play Pakistan had taken four wickets at 171 leaving the West Indies to bat out the fifth and final day or score a further 285 runs with six wickets intact for an unlikely win.
No team has ever chased down more than the 418/7 West Indies managed against Australia at Antigua 13 years ago and on a weary last day pitch they will need a huge effort to stop Pakistan from taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Pakistan won the first Test — a day-night affair played with the pink ball — by 56 runs in Dubai. Pakistan had declared their second innings on 227/2 at lunch, with Asad Shafiq on 58 not out (his 16th Test half-century) and Younis Khan 29 to give their bowlers enough time to force a win.
At close, Jermaine Blackwood was unbeaten on 41 and with him was Roston Chase on 17 not out as the two foiled Pakistan’s bowling during an unbroken 47-run stand for the fifth wicket.
The duo carried the fight initiated by opener Kraigg Brathwaite who scored a fighting 67 with six boundaries and a six. Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels (23) had added 49 for the third wicket but both fell in the space of 12 runs, Samuels giving a return catch to leg-spinner Yasir Shah while Brathwaite was trapped leg-before wicket by Mohammad Nawaz. Brathwaite had completed his 11th half-century with a three run drive off paceman Sohail Khan — his first in this series. West Indies’ task of saving the Test was made even more difficult after they lost Leon Johnson (nine) and Darren Bravo (13) with the total on 63.
Brief scores: Pak: 452 and 227/2 dec (Azhar 79, Shafiq 58*); WI: 224 and 171/4 (Brathwaite 67, Blackwood 41*, Yasir 2/60). — AFP
