The two-Test series between West Indies and Pakistan, kicked off in Kingston Jamaica. Day 1, hit by rain in the afternoon, saw wickets tumble to seamers, with the game evenly poised at the close of play. Returning to the ground he made his Test debut in 2017, Mohammad Abbas took two in two to leave West Indies 2-2 in reply to the tourists’ 217 all out.

Match Summary

West Indies *2/2 (4 ov)

Pakistan 217/10 (70.3 ov)

Day Break : Day 1 West Indies trail by 215 runs.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite put the opposition into bat and was not disappointed with when his pacemen had reduced Pakistan to 68-4, including the key wicket of Babar Azam for a fluent 30. Mohammad Rizwan tried to break the shackles and after hitting five boundaries in his 23 was caught at square-leg. Fawad Alam, quite often the man around whom Pakistan’s innings is built was at his adhesive best. His sixth-wicket stand worth 85 runs was ended with a needless run-out of Faheem Ashraf, who scored crucial 44 runs off 66 balls with 8 fours. This was the only passage of play when bowlers were made to toil and Faheem could have gone on to have more impact but an under arm throw from Roston Chase ended his innings. The Pakistan all-rounder will now be expected to make a contribution with the ball too.

Fawad was the ninth Pakistan wicket to fall, bowled by Jason Holder having reached a typically gritty 56 (117balls, 6 fours). In fact last three batsmen were claimed in four balls with all ten wickets claimed by pacemen with Holder (3-26) and Jayden Seales (3-70), leading the way. In claiming two wickets before the stumps, Pakistan have hit back strongly with prospect of an intriguing contest between the two sides, known for both flair and unpredictability. As the only spinner in their side, Yasir Shah, will carry  the tourists’ aim to go one-up in the series.

Holder takes what seems like his millionth catch in slip for the summer! Another wicket falls! #WIvPAK

Live Scorecard - https://t.co/Ag6mEEgRF5 pic.twitter.com/pW3nijOh1W

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) August 12, 2021

Pakistan 1st Innings

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Imran Butt - 6.4 ov), 2-21 (Abid Ali - 7.6 ov), 3-68 (Azhar Ali - 31.2 ov), 4-68 (Babar Azam - 32.1 ov), 5-101 (Mohammad Rizwan - 41.4 ov), 6-186 (Faheem Ashraf - 62.1 ov), 7-190 (Yasir Shah - 64.3 ov), 8-217 (Hasan Ali - 69.6 ov), 9-217 (Fawad Alam - 70.2 ov), 10-217 (Mohammad Abbas - 70.3 ov)

West Indies 1st Innings

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Kieran Powell - 2.2 ov), 2-1 (Nkrumah Bonner - 2.3 ov)

Playing XIs:

Pakistan - Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah/Nauman Ali, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi

West Indies - Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Nkrumah Bonner, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph

© Cricket World 2021