Dharuba: Mohammad Abbas took three wickets and Khurram Shahzad took two as Pakistan left West Indies at the end of the third day of the first Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (PLCA) on Monday.
At the end of the third day’s play, the home side were 126/7 leading by 155 runs, with lower-order batsmen Shamar Joseph and Camer Roach unbeaten on 22 and 5 respectively.
After bowling Pakistan out for 282 in the first innings and taking a 29-run lead, West Indies struggled to capitalize, with Abbas dismissing Brandon King (five) and Gaveem Hodge (nil) in the fourth over to give Pakistan a head start.
Following an early stumble, Amir Janghu (four) joined opener Chanderpal and the duo batted cautiously to add 21 runs for the third wicket, caught by Mohammad Ali in the 14th over as West Indies slipped to 28/3.
Muhammad Ali dealt another blow to West Indies’ batting charge three overs later when he dismissed veteran wicketkeeper batsman Shai Hope (10) to reduce the total to 43/4.
Following the collapse, all-rounder Justin Greaves joined left-arm opener Dagenerine Chanderpal in the middle and the duo batted cautiously to add 37 runs for the fifth wicket, with Amir Jamal sending back the latter, who scored 35 off 101 balls.
Abbas dismissed Greaves (20) and Khurram Shahzad caught their skipper Roston Chase (eight) behind as West Indies lost two wickets in quick succession to slump to 93/7.
Lower-order pair Joseph and Roche then frustrated the pace-laden Pakistan bowling as they put on an unbeaten 33-run eighth-wicket partnership that ensured the West Indies could not afford any further setbacks.
The duo will now resume West Indies’ second innings on the final day as the hosts set Pakistan a tough target.
For the Green Shirts, Abbas has so far taken 3 wickets for just 14 runs in his 13 overs, Shahzad 2 wickets and Ali and Jamal 1 each.
Earlier, Justin Greaves’ five-wicket haul helped West Indies bowl out Pakistan for 282 despite Shaun Masood’s anchor century.
West Indies were 311 all out at 267/8 after lunch and the visitors could add 15 more runs to their total and were booked for 282 in 80.1 overs.
Pakistan made an unpleasant start to the second session of the ongoing third day as Greaves dismissed No. 10 Mohammed Abbas (nil) to register his first five wickets in form.
Shahjad offered some resistance until he fell to Roach with 19 off 36 balls.
Greaves led the West Indies bowling charge with sensational bowling figures of 5/27 from his 11 overs, followed by Roach and Joseph with two each, with Jayden Seals catching a scalp.
Resuming the first innings at 199/3, Pakistan bowled the home side overnight in the form of Shaan Masood and Salman Ali Agha.
The duo put together a crucial 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which brought up Masood’s seventh Test century and first since the replacement of star batsman Babar Azam as Pakistan Test captain.
Joseph finally gave West Indies the much-needed breakthrough in the 15th over of the day when he bamboozled Agha with a late-swinger that clipped the top of his off-stump. The all-rounder scored 20 runs off 60 balls with three fours.
Masood, who scored the highest century with 109 runs off 184 balls with 12 fours, took a backseat to the bowling.
The 32-year-old fast all-rounder struck once in each of his next three overs, dismissing the returning Jamal (three), debutant Ali Usman (nil) and Rizwan (12) to reduce Pakistan to 259/8.