Pakistan race to 199 for 3 after Hope’s 92 lifts Windies to 311

Bad light ended play as Seales hit his straps 

Pakistan 199 for 3 (Masood 88*, Imam-ul-Haq 63; Joseph 1-33) trail West Indies 311 all out (Hope 92, Hodge 84; Ali 4-50) by 112 runs 

The West Indies have been forced on the back foot following two days of action in the first Test against Pakistan in Tarouba. The hosts lost seven wickets for 117 runs to be dismissed for 311. An inconsistent start with the ball then saw Pakistan eat into that total, racing to 199 for 3 at stumps, trailing by 112 runs.

Pakistan have so far batted 48 overs, 19 fewer than Windies needed for their 194 for three on Day 1. The Caribbean bowlers failed to build any pressure after the early wicket of Azan Awais, who was bowled through the gate by Kemar Roach for a nine-ball duck. They conceded 5.1 runs per over in 19 post-lunch overs.

In addition to being guilty of delivering a few too many boundary balls, the Windies bowlers overstepped the frontline seven times in a tally of extras that currently stands at 25.

They managed to tighten the screws in the evening session, where they picked up the wickets of Imam-ul-Haq (63) and Babar Azam (23) while conceding just seven boundaries. 

West Indies were also close to picking up the wicket of top-scorer Shan Masood. However, they failed to get the crucial umpire’s call. The left-hander survived two close LBW appeals to finish the day unbeaten on 88. 

Shai Hope had earlier fallen agonizingly short of what would have been a sixth Test ton—a fourth in this, his third red-ball stint—when he was trapped LBW by Mohammad Ali for 92. Hope’s wicket was the penultimate in a flurry of five Windies lost for 57 runs while batting 31.5 overs on the day. 

They were dismissed inside 20 minutes of the afternoon session, having lost three wickets for seven runs to be bowled out in 98.5 overs. 

After resuming on 194 for three, the Caribbean side was in danger of being bowled out for under 300 when Kemar Roach (3), undone by bounce from Khurram Shahzad, fended to slip with the score 274 for seven.  

A shotgun 30-run partnership between Hope and Shamar Joseph, led by the latter’s 13-ball 23, however, ensured that was not the case. 

As Floyd Reifer stated at the end of Day 1, Windies were eyeing a big first innings score. They suffered an earlier setback when Kavem Hodge added just one run to his overnight score before he was caught at slip off Khurram Shahzad for 84 in the third over of the day. That ended his fourth-wicket stand with Hope at 91 runs.

Hope was joined by Justin Greaves, and they ticked along, putting on 34 for the fifth wicket before Greaves fell to Ali for 15. The West Indies would also lose skipper Roston Chase (10) and Kemar Roach (3) in the extended morning session, getting to the interval at 303 for seven.