Windies lose second Test to Pakistan by 8 wickets

King-less line-up gave the bowlers little to work with on Queen’s Park turner 

Result, Day 4: Pakistan 387 & 77 for 2 (Babar 24*, Shafique 24*; Seales 1-9) beat West Indies 344 & 117 all out (Hodge 34, Chanderpaul 17; Sajid 4-32) by 8 wickets 

Needing just 75 runs for victory, a leisurely approach from the Pakistan batters meant Day 4 spilt over into the afternoon session. West Indies had earlier batted for half an hour, adding 14 to their overnight 103 for six before losing their last three available wickets.

Ali Usman (4/39) removed Kemar Roach for a duck, and Shamar Joseph (9) to match Sajid Khan’s four-for, crucially keeping the Windies lower-order quiet and dismissing the hosts for 117. 

Despite losing Imam-ul-Haq (9) and Azan Awais (18) to the Windies quicks, first-innings centurion Abdullah Shafique and captain Babar Azam made identical scores of 24 in an unbroken 35-run third-wicket stand to see the visitors to a series-levelling win at 77 for two.

The 1-1 result snapped an eight-game losing streak away from home for Pakistan while simultaneously prolonging the West Indies’ 26-year wait for a series win over the visitors. 

Before the start of play, Cricket West Indies had confirmed that the injured Brandon King had been ruled out of the remainder of the Test. Still, there is no discernible correlation between that bit of information and the approach of the Windies batters on the day. 

Five of the six wickets they lost on Day 3 were either bowled or LBW. None of them fell via particularly attacking shots, including Roston Chase, who was caught and bowled. Yet Roach and Justin Greaves were both bowled early, looking to attack. Joseph, the last man out, was caught attempting a big shot.

The ball from Mohammad Ali that accounted for Greaves kept low. Likewise, Shai Hope, who was struck at ankle-height for his dismissal last evening. Perhaps the Caribbean batters could have used these details as encouragement to stick around and accumulate, ideally via a more calculated approach, to give the bowlers a chance.

Instead, a very capable Roach was dismissed swinging for the fences while Greaves played on, going across the line. One could argue that asking the lower-order to do what the top order couldn’t is a bit presumptuous. Well, another could rebut that the positive results achieved by the West Indies this summer have come with lower-order contributions.