BRATHWAITE KEEPS CARIBBEANS AFLOAT
Kraigg Brathwaite posted a mature unbeaten 95 to guide West Indies to 244 for 6 at the end of the second day of the third and final Test at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
The young opener also shared two invaluable partnerships. The first — an 83-run fifth wicket partnership with Roston Chase (50) and then another 83-runs with Shane Dowrich (47) to script visitors’ recovery.
The Caribbeans are still 37 runs in arrears with four wickets in hand and need to bat sensibly on Tuesday if they harbour hopes of taking the lead and putting Pakistan under pressure. The visitors suffered an early jolt when Leon Johnson was declared LBW against the bowling of Wahab Riaz.
Wahab bowled a fiery spell and tested the batsmen. He looked sharper and more incisive than his fellow left-hander fast bowler Mohammad Amir.
Amir has got two wickets but he is yet to reach the standards he was known for before the spot-fixing issue and next two series (New Zealand and Australia) will determine where he stands. A place in the Test team can’t be taken for granted as others (Rahat Ali, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan) are waiting in the wings.
West Indies suffered a huge blow when their leading run-getter in the series Darren Bravo tried to clear the infield but was deceived by Zulifqar Babar’s delivery and Amir took a brilliant catch.
Amir was catchless in his career of 19 Tests but he pouched one in his 20th. He reacted a bit late and had to run backwards, kept his eyes on the ball and flung forward after diving full length to leave Bravo and a small but vocal crowd bemused.
It is all the result of hard work done by fielding coach Steve Rixon. Amir looks sharp and focused during fielding sessions.
Marlin Samuels failed once again as he was snared by Yasir Shah. Samuels reviewed the LBW decision but TV replays showed he was plumb.
Jermaine Blackwood hit some shots in his 23 runs but was forced by Amir to play an outswinger and gave the catch to gully.
Earlier, Shah and Amir started second day’s proceedings for Pakistan with a flurry of shots. Amir was particularly harsh on Alzarri Joseph by hitting him for fours. Shannon Gabriel bowled a number of bouncers which were negotiated well by Pakistan batsmen. Joseph cleaned up both the batsmen in the 91st to wrap up Pakistan innings at 281.