Hope holds firm as Pakistan reduce West Indies to 303-7

TAROUBA: Pakistan clawed back control of the first Test on Sunday morning by taking four West Indies wickets in the session, although Shai Hope’s unbeaten 89 and a brisk cameo from Shamar Joseph carried the hosts to 303-7 at lunch on day two at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

West Indies had resumed on 194-3, but Khurram Shahzad struck with the first ball of the day when Kavem Hodge edged to Salman Ali Agha at second slip after making 84 off 183 balls with nine fours. Mohammad Ali then removed Justin Greaves for 15, again with Salman taking the catch in the slips, as Pakistan tightened their grip.

Hope, who was 39 not out overnight, brought up his seventh Test fifty and moved to 89 not out from 176 deliveries, hitting six fours and a six to keep the innings together. Captain Roston Chase made 10 before Mohammad Abbas found his edge and Mohammad Rizwan completed the dismissal behind the stumps, while Khurram claimed his second wicket by having Kemar Roach caught by Babar Azam at slip for three.

At 274-7, West Indies were in danger of being dismissed cheaply, but Shamar Joseph counterattacked with 23 not out off 12 balls. The left-hander hit Abbas for six over long-on and then struck two boundaries off Khurram to take his side beyond 300.

The morning brought 109 runs for the loss of four wickets. Abbas remained Pakistan’s most successful bowler in the innings with 3-63 in 26 overs, while Khurram had 2-66, Mohammad Ali 1-47, Aamer Jamal 1-81 and debutant left-arm spinner Ali Usman 0-34.

Rain-hit opening day

On the first day, rain restricted play and West Indies had reached 194-3 after choosing to bat first. Hodge and Hope had steadied the innings with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand after the home side slipped to 106-3.

Mohammad Abbas had given Pakistan their early breakthroughs, bowling Brandon King for 12 and trapping Amir Jangoo lbw for 21 after a review overturned the original not-out decision. Earlier, Aamer Jamal had Tage­n­arine Chanderpaul caught by Salman at second slip for 21.

Abbas said Pakistan would have preferred more wickets from the opening day’s work. He said, "It was a reasonably good day for us although we would have liked to have taken a couple more wickets. This pitch is a bit slow. It was covered the day before the match so you have to work really hard to get something from it."

At lunch, West Indies still had Jomel Warrican and Jayden Seales to come. Pakistan’s XI for the match is Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Abbas.