Chase, Dowrich fight back for West Indies
Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich both hit fine half-centuries to engineer a revival from 71 for 5, as West Indies finished on 244 for 7 at stumps on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan.
Coming together immediately after lunch when opener Kieran Powell became Mohammad Amir’s third wicke,t and the fifth overall, Chase batted with confidence and fluency for a top score of 63. His sixth-wicket partnership with Dowrich was worth 118 runs, the wicketkeeper-batsman enhancing his reputation with a polished 56, after the Caribbean side was put in to bat at Sabina Park on Friday (April 21).
On the same ground where an unbeaten hundred in just his second Test match had saved West Indies from a possible defeat against India a year earlier, Chase looked at ease against all bowlers. He did have a few close shaves when playing the hook shot against the quicker men, but it was Yasir Shah, the legspinner, who removed both him and Dowrich off successive deliveries in the final session.
Both Chase and Dowrich had been positive against Yasir in the afternoon session, but the bowler had the last laugh, luring Chase into a lofted stroke for Wahab Riaz to hold on to an outstanding diving catch, running back from mid-off almost to the boundary rope.
Dowrich was then deceived and bowled by the next delivery.
At 189 for 7, Pakistan’s hopes of dismissing the West Indies on the opening day were revived, only for Jason Holder (30 not out), the captain, and Devendra Bishoo (23 not out), the legspinner, to frustrate the visiting side with an enterprising, unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 55.
Earlier, Mohammad Abbas had a dream start to his Test career while sharing the new ball with Amir, having Kraigg Brathwaite caught at second slip by Younis Khan without scoring with his second delivery.
It was an important early breakthrough as the opener had made history in the last Test match between the two teams with unbeaten scores of 142 and 60 that earned the West Indies a five-wicket win in Sharjah last November.
West Indies played two debutants in the middle-order in the pair of Guyanese left-handers Shimron Hetmyer and Vishaul Singh, and Pakistan pressed the advantage even further with Amir claiming his first wickets for three Test matches.
Maintaining a nagging accuracy, the left-arm fast bowler bowled both Hetmyer and Shai Hope, scattering the stumps with deliveries that jagged in sharply off a good length.
Riaz, Pakistan’s third seamer in their bowling armoury, then removed Vishaul via a fine diving catch by Azhar Ali at backward square-leg to have the home side tottering at that point at 53 for 4.
"I was struggling to swing the white ball (during the limited-over matches) but got things working well today," said Amir about his effort of 3 for 28 off 19 overs on the day. "(Bowling) coach Azhar Mahmood has been working a lot with me and I got the results, but we have to keep working hard to keep West Indies down to a manageable total."
West Indies opted to omit Jermaine Blackwood from its final eleven to accommodate the debutants in the batting line-up, meaning there was no Jamaican in the home side for a Test match at Sabina Park for the first time since 1997 when, incidentally, the opponents were also Pakistan.
Notwithstanding his impressive entry to senior international cricket during the limited-overs leg of the tour, Pakistan resisted the temptation to include the uncapped Shadab Khan in their team as a second spinner in support of Yasir, choosing instead to introduce 27-year-old Abbas to Test cricket.
This is the 50th Test between the two nations and also the 50th Test match to be played at Sabina Park since the very first at the venue in 1930.
