Pakistan win series against West Indies
Pakistan captain feels that current Caribbean squad nowhere near the force they were in the past
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has expressed his “disappointment” in West Indies no longer being the force that they were renowned for in the past after his side took an unassailable 2-0 Test lead in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
The visitors, who blanked the Windies 3-0 in both the T20 and ODIs series, are now staring at a similar fate in the Tests series as well.
The defeat is West Indies’ 19th in their last 29 Tests since November 2013, having won only four and having drawn the remaining six.
It is in total contrast to the West Indies team of the 1980s, when under Clive Lloyd’s captaincy they were an indomitable force at international level, going undefeated in 27 Tests from January 1982 to December 1984.
“Yes it is disappointing to see them losing this way and if you look at the past they were such a solid team at the international level,” said Misbah, who now has 23 wins in the 48 Test matches in which he has led Pakistan.
“You are seeing Windies downfall as they are a young side but they have some young players who are performing in bits and pieces,” felt Misbah, who judged inexperience as the reason for the Windies decline.
“The young players might become good with experience but at the moment you can say they are inexperienced for the Tests and that’s why it’s difficult for them to perform at this level. Everybody wants to see a strong West Indies team and they have to come up the way they used to be in the past. It is disappointing for all of their fans as well,” added Misbah, who hailed his bowlers for sticking to their task on a dead track.
“Winning as many matches helps in the development of the team. It was great to see all the players contributing. They took the challenge on a pitchlike this and to take wickets on such a track was satisfactory,” said Misbah, who expressed his displeasure over the slowness of the Abu Dhabi wicket that made his bowlers’ job so painstaking.
“If we look at strengths, then we have a world class spinner like Yasir Shah and we expect that when we have a pitch which helps spinners. This pitch gets a turn every time we play here but this one did not have spin even on the last day. So credit to the bowlers — the way they have performed on a flat track. To get 20 wickets on this pitch is a big achievement,” said Misbah, who backed his decision not to enforce a follow on saying,
“The strategy behind it was to save my own body and that of the whole team.”
He added: “I think when you field more than 100 overs so continuously and if you think they have to field again and bowl the opposition out, it is going to be tough. Yasir is 30-plus and you ask him to bowl again after bowling 40 overs and bowl another 40 would be too much. So assessing the conditions it was better to bat again and grind your opposition again and then bowl.”
The young players might become good with experience but at the moment you can say they[West Indies players] are inexperienced for the Tests and that’s why it’s difficult for them to perform at this level.” Misbah-ul-Haq | Pakistan skipper
series defeat was imminent, but for how long West Indies could resist the inevitable, was the only question.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah finished with 6 for 124 as Pakistan completed the Windies’ last rites, just 40 minutes before tea, to seal the win by 133 runs in the second Test at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium yesterday.
Though it was Yasir’s eighth five-wicket haul in 18 matches, it was hard work for the bowler known for his masterclass. On a flat, non-responding track, he did struggle with his length all through and hence the delay in finishing off things early.
“Wanted to bowl in one area. These wickets are slow, that’s why there were many bad balls. But I worked on a repeatable action in the nets. I plan differently for different series. The senior players give me extra support,” said Yasir, who walked away with the man-ofmatch award.
Credit should also go to the Windies’ middle order batsmen especially Jermaine Blackwood, whose fighting knock of 95 allowed his side to give stiff resistance carrying on the fight in a losing battle, for a good 108 overs.
Blackwood effort
There is no doubt that the Windies team has looked like a club team on this tour and disinterested at times. However, the UAE tracks, in both first and second Tests, have also been way below par.
Apart from being too flat, it was upsetting to see the slowness of the wicket that made the contest look more onesided and dull.
Ten overs into the final day’s play and Pakistan got the breakthrough that they were so desperately looking for. Roston Chase may have built a reputation after saving a Test against India in August with 137 but his contribution on this tour has been ordinary and once again it wasn’t effective enough to save the day for Windies. He made a watchful 20 off 86 balls before Yasir got one to spin viciously and Chase nicked it and Sarfraz Ahmad behind the stumps showed good reflexes to hang on to it.
In a forgettable Test match, Blackwood was the lone man standing trying to salvage some pride for his country. He was very much in line for a well-deserved ton and was the only batsman in the Windies ranks who looked better equipped and confident of rising to the challenge in store in the second innings. Blackwood, whose maiden unbeaten century (112) had come against England in North Sound, Antigua, way back in 2015, unfortunately fell short of the landmark by five runs.
It was Yasir again, this time with the new ball when he got one to skid through the defences of Blackwood, who
Pakistan 1st innings: West Indies 1st innings: Pakistan 2nd innings: West Indies 2nd innings:
(overnight 171-4) K. Brathwaite lbw b Nawaz L. Johnson b Shah D. Bravo c Nawaz b Rahat M. Samuels c and b Shah J. Blackwood b Shah R. Chase c Ahmad b Shah S. Hope c Younis b Babar J. Holder lbw b Shah D. Bishoo c Misbah b Babar M. Cummins b Shah S. Gabriel not out
(b4, lb1) (all out; 108 overs)
1-28 (Johnson), 2-63 (Bravo), 3-112 (Samuels), 4-124 (Brathwaite), 5-187 (Chase), 6-244 (Blackwood), 7-266 (Holder), 8-311 (Hope), 9-312 (Cummins)
Sohail 14-3-44-0, Rahat 23-269-1, Shah 39-5-124-6, Babar 22-5-51-2, Nawaz 10-0-29-1
Pakistan win by 133 runs
Extras: Total: Fall of wickets: Bowling: Result:
452 224 227-2 decl 67 9 13 23 95 20 41 16 26 0 7 5 322 played for the turn and missed to see his stumps stumble. Then skipper Jason Holder was Yasir’s next victim, leg before and the latter was all smiles going into lunch with a five-wicket haul.
By now the Windies had slipped to 272 for 7 chasing that impossible 456 and too much resting on the shoulders of Shai Hope.
Though Yasir kept swelling his wickets column, nothing had gone right for the leftarm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who had missed the first Test in Dubai. And as Babar heaved a huge sigh of relief getting a well set Hope (41) caught at slips by Younis Khan — getting that turn from a wicket which eluded him for a good four-and-a-half days, claps were heard in the press box for the veteran.
Yasir then bowled Miguel Cummins for a duck to finish the match with a 10-wicket haul — the second of his career. And with Devendra Bishoo holding out to Misbah-ul-Haq at midwicket, Babar had another victim and the curtains came down on the Windies.