Seales returns to best self to help Windies trump Pakistan
Local boy Seales cops fourth Test fifer
West Indies 311 & 181 (Joseph 38, Chanderpaul 35; Abbas 5-22) beat Pakistan 282 & 120 (Babar 58*, Abbas 23; Seales 5-20) by 90 runs
The West Indies christened the Brian Lara Cricket Academy with a comprehensive 90-run win over Pakistan in the first-ever Test match at the venue to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Hometown hero Jayden Seales was skilful, accurate, and miserly in a spell of 5 for 20 that helped Windies skittle the visitors as they defended 211 in the low-scoring affair, earning the result inside four days.
For the first time in the Caribbean, all forty wickets in a two-match series fell to seamers. After batting for just over an hour on the day, the West Indian quicks took no time to settle in the fourth innings, quickly reducing Pakistan to 25 for 3 in the second half of the morning session.
The procession of wickets continued, with captain Babar Azam being the lone source of Pakistani resistance. We can only speculate just how the disruption of the batting order affected them.
Resident No. 3 Shan Masood was forced to bat at No. 8, nursing a fractured finger suffered in the first innings from Seales. It wasn’t until No. 11 Mohammad Abbas walked to the crease that the Windies bowlers were made to try something different.
Pakistan looked set to be bundled out for under 100 before their last-wicket stand, the highest of the innings, took them from 71 for 9 on a 49-run journey, which frustrated the West Indies for the extra half-hour in the afternoon session until Seales trapped Abbas LBW in the second over after Tea to secure the win at 120 all out.
Perhaps it was no coincidence that a less animated Seales, in particular, delivered his best spell of bowling in 20 innings. This was his fourth Test five-wicket haul, and it was only the second time he’s picked up 3-plus wickets in an innings since the Kensington Tests against Australia last summer.
Yet it was Justin Greaves who provided what was probably the biggest breakthrough of the day. Greaves (2/12) dislodged Mohammad Rizwan (11) with his first legal delivery, ending what had the potential to be a match-altering partnership with Azam at 21 with Pakistan 46 for 4 after Lunch.
Player of the match Greaves finished with match figures of 7 for 39.
The West Indies had earlier added 55 crucial runs to their overnight 126 for 7 to be dismissed for 181. There was no adjustment to the Day 3 approach from Shamar Joseph and Kemar Roach at the start of the day.
They frustrated the Pakistani bowlers in contrasting fashions: Joseph through attack and Roach via defense. The result was ideal for the West Indies as the pair added 28 runs on the day, tallying what proved to be a match-winning 61-run eighth-wicket stand.
After slipping to 93 for seven on Day 3, the last three partnerships for Windies faced 102 balls and accumulated 88 runs to help push the lead past 200.
In a rather curious move, Pakistan opted against beginning the day with talisman Mohammad Abbas, who had overnight figures of 3 for 14. Abbas was brought into the attack after seven overs were bowled.
He wrapped up the Windies innings in three overs, completing a seventh five-wicket haul by claiming the final two scalps, those of Kemar Roach (18) and Jomel Warrican (14), conceding eight runs on the day. Abbas’ fifer was a career best of 5 for 22, finishing with match figures of 8 for 85.