Sammy And Rampaul Wrap Up West Indies Victory

Sammy And Rampaul Wrap Up West Indies Victory

Darren Sammy led by example as the West Indies scored a 40-run win over Pakistan

©REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (BRITAIN) Picture Supplied by Action Images

West Indies 226 & 152 (Saeed Ajmal 6-42) beat
Pakistan 160 & 178 (Sammy 5-29) by 40 runs
First Test, Providence, Guyana
Scorecard

West Indies captain Darren Sammy bowled his side to their first Test win in 27 months with a haul of five for 29 as Pakistan were bowled out for 178 in pursuit of 219 to win in Providence.

They had begun the day on 80 for three but an excellent bowling performance from the home side ensured that it was they who took the victory having gone 17 matches since last doing so.

Sammy was given excellent support with the ball by Ravi Rampaul, who returned four for 48 while the other man to take a wicket was Kemar Roach, who dismissed Mohammad Hafeez for two on day three.

This day then belonged to Sammy and Rampaul but they were frustrated early on by Misbah-ul-Haq, the only man in the entire game to score a half-century, who made 52, and Asad Shafiq, who posted 42 before being bowled by Rampaul to set the West Indian victory charge in motion.

Misbah then found an ally in Umar Akmal, who played an uncharacteristic but desperately needed circumspect innings, hitting 47 in 102 balls before he fell, trapped in front by Sammy. His was the ninth wicket to fall, Sammy having earlier removed Misbah - also trapped in front - and Mohammad Salman for nought in three balls.

It was a sequence of deliveries that on the scorebook read 'W0W' and the 'wow' factor was what Sammy - who remains a target for criticism in some quarters as to his suitability for the captaincy - gave the West Indies on what turned out to be the final day.

Once Misbah, who, in the absence of Younus Khan, is by far Pakistan's technically most adept batsman, was dismissed, it seemed inevitable that the West Indies would prevail, particularly as Shafiq, who is looking more and more accomplished with each passing innings, had also gone.

There was something of a rally between Akmal and Abdur Rehman (6) before three wickets fell for the addition of six runs with Rehman, Umar Gul (1) and then Akmal falling in quick succession.

The game was brought to a swift conclusion when Sammy bowled Ajmal, the man who had taken 11 wickets in the game to keep Pakistan's hopes alive, for three, leaving Wahab Riaz unbeaten on 11.

Ajmal had returned six for 42 in West Indies' second innings of 152 that kept the target down but Misbah would later lament the poor fielding that allowed the game to get away from them.

They had been excellent in the first innings when Ajmal took five for 69 to roll the hosts for 226 - the highest score of the game.

Pakistan's first innings of 160 was undermined by a four-wicket haul on debut by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and a collapse that saw them slip to 80 for six. They never recovered, either in their bid to get on terms or get back in the match overall.

The second and final Test in the series begins in Saint Kitts on 20th February.

John Pennington

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