Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir threatened to wreck the West Indies with an early burst of fantastic swing bowling in heavily overcast conditions as Sabina Park’s 50th Test match got underway yesterday.
However, stubborn resistance from Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich gave the few hundred home fans at the iconic venue something to cheer about as the regional side recovered from 71-5 to close on 244-7.Score: West Indies 244-7 (81 overs)Middle-order batsman Chase, who made an unbeaten century against India at Sabina Park last year, has top-scored so far with 63, while wicketkeeper/batsman Dowrich contributed 56.
The two added 118 runs off 259 balls for the sixth wicket that brought respectability to the total. Both fell off successive deliveries from wrist spinner Yasir Shah in the post tea session.
But further defiance would come from West Indies skipper Jason Holder, not out on 30, and Devendra Bishoo, who is on 23, before umpires called play due to bad light with nine overs yet to be bowled.Play is set to resume today at 9:55 am — five minutes earlier than usual.
The left-armer Amir, who got swing and seam movement on a windy day, was undoubtedly Pakistan’s best bowler. He ended with 3-28 off 19 overs.
Earlier, the Pakistanis won the toss and opted to field first in gloomy morning conditions on a pitch with a light covering of grass.Batsman Jermaine Blackwood, the only Jamaican in the 13-man squad, was one of two players — along with pacer Miguel Cummings — left out of the starting team. The home side was without a Jamaican in the line-up for a Test match at Sabina Park for the first time since 1977 when the opponents were also Pakistan. Some would argue that, more significantly, it left an inexperienced batting order exposed.
Pakistan’s debutant, seamer Mohammad Abbas, 27, made the most of the opportunity when he was gifted a wicket off only his second delivery in Test cricket.
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who made a match-winning century against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates late last year, pushed tentatively at a back of a length delivery outside off stump and edged a catch to Younis Khan at second slip.The skilful Amir was not to be outdone, accounting for two quick wickets.
The 20-year-old debutant Shimron Hetmyer had made 97 against Amir and company in the three-day warm-up game in Trelawny last week, but the introduction to Test cricket was less favourable for the precocious left-hander.He was beaten all ends up by an Amir delivery that darted sharply in toward the batsman and cannoned into the stumps.An arguably better delivery was to come from the 25-year-old left-arm pace man.
This time he slanted the ball through the air across the right-handed Shai Hope, then bent it back off the pitch to burst through the feeble attempt at a defensive shot.Vishaul Singh, another rookie batsman, was seemingly wrong-footed by a rare full delivery from Wahab Riaz and, being slightly off balance, the left-hander clipped a catch to Azhar Ali, who had to dive forward at backward square leg.
Powell, who had been out of West Indies cricket for about three years due to personal reasons, was sucked into the drive by an enticingly full, swinging offering from Amir —second ball after the lunch break — and offered an edge to slip.His dismissal was untimely for the West Indies as up till then he seemed the only batsman able to cope with the Pakistan pace trio. It turned out Powell’s was the only wicket to fall in the session.Chase, who played with consummate elegance, especially off the back foot against both pace and spin, and Dowrich, who unleashed a series of flashing cuts and solid drives, unsettled the visiting team.
Shah, the joint second-fastest bowler to 100 wickets in Tests, was their main target as he offered up too many loose balls.Both 25-year-olds compiled admirable half-centuries but the sixth wicket came against the run of play as fast bowler Wahab Riaz produced brilliance in the field.
Chase, looking comfortable, lofted a full-pitched delivery from Shah, but Wahab, at mid-off ran back to take an incredible diving catch, landing less than a metre inside the boundary rope.Dowrich went the very next delivery, bowled by a suddenly pumped up Shah.The incoming Holder hit four, followed immediately by a six off the wrist spinner — both carved sweetly over extra cover — to signal his intent.
And Bishoo at the other end was at his belligerent best, attacking the bowlers when given the opportunity even if employing awkward tactics against the frightening pace of Wahab. The two added 55 runs off 68 balls.The West Indies, who had eked out a little over two runs per over for the opening two sessions, chugged along at over four runs an over in the final period.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies 1st Innings
K. Brathwaite c Khan b Abbas 0
K. Powell c Khan b Amir 33
S. Hetmyer b Amir 11
S. Hope b Amir 2
V. Singh c Ali b Riaz 9
R. Chase c Riaz b Shah 63
S. Dowrich b Shah 56
J. Holder not out 30
D. Bishoo not out 23
Extras (lb17) 17
Total (7 wkts, 81 overs) 244
To bat: A. Joseph, S. Gabriel
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Brathwaite), 2-23 (Hetmyer), 3-32 (Hope), 4-53 (Singh), 5-71 (Powell), 6-189 (Chase), 7-189 (Dowrich)
Bowling: M. Amir 18-9-28-3, M. Abbas 17-4-42-1, W. Riaz 21-4-66-1, Y. Shah 24-5-91-2
Pakistan – Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas.
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match Referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
