Pakistan holds nerve to clinch 56-run win

Darren Bravo nearly pulled off a famous win with a blinder of an innings which will go down as one of best advertisements for pink-ball Tests, or indeed, all of Test cricket, but Pakistan held its nerve to pull off a 56-run win in the first Test of a three-match series.

Bravo stayed for 249 balls in making 116, but his knock was ended by Yasir Shah with West Indies still 83 short of a steep 346-run target, swinging the match decisively Pakistan's way at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday (October 17).

Once Bravo fell, Pakistan grabbed the remaining three wickets - aided by two run-outs - in quick time to bowl West Indies out for 289 in 109 overs. Pakistan thus took a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, and also came out victorious in its 400th Test match.

Resuming on an overnight 95 for 2, West Indies got off to a bad start on the fifth day. Bravo – who was on 26 – could only watch as Marlon Samuels fell to the first ball of the day, caught behind off Mohammad Amir.

West Indies lost three more wickets — two in the span of three deliveries, but Bravo stood resolute, along with Jason Holder, the captain. The left-hand batsman’s eighth Test century wasn’t as free-flowing as one has come to associate his run-scoring, but it was one which showed great application, maturity and heart.

Bravo and Holder carried West Indies to 263 for 6 to raise hopes of taking the lead in the Test series after successive whitewashes in the ODIs and T20Is. But Shah’s second scalp of the innings and seventh in the game meant the chances of the visiting side upsetting the No.2 ranked side diminished significantly.

Holder, who has a century and five half-centuries in Tests, showcased his ability with the bat with 40 not out from 127 deliveries. However, the running between the wickets was hesitant between the last two wickets, with both Miguel Cummins and Shannon Gabriel, the Nos. 10 and 11, run-out.

In the morning, it seemed as if Pakistan was on course for a comfortable win after having Samuels pushing at a length ball from Amir. The outside edge carried at a comfortable height to Sarfraz Ahmed, the wicketkeeper.

Jermaine Blackwood hung around for 41 deliveries and made 15 before being struck on his pad in front of the stumps off Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm spinner. Then came a period of resuscitation as Bravo and Roston Chase got together and added 77 runs for the fifth wicket.

Chase, famous for his game-saving 137 not out against India in July this year, was the ideal partner under circumstances, but his dismissal to Shah for 35 threw a spanner in Bravo’s plans. His cause wasn’t helped by the fact that Shane Dowrich fell a ball later to Wahab Riaz.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan skipper, made all the bowling and field changes he believed would trigger a swift end. But Bravo, who had made a 258-ball 87 in the first innings, and Holder remained unmoved on a fifth-day pitch.

The duo added 69 runs for the seventh wicket to bring West Indies within sight of a morale-boosting win. But the moment Shah tossed up the final ball of the 95th over outside the off stump and got Bravo to lean into a cover drive without getting to the pitch, you could sense something was going to happen. Sure enough, it did. Bravo, who has been exceptional with his driving throughout the Test, went after it but only ended up lobbing it back to Shah. After completing a brilliant catch diving to his left, Shah would have known the game was as good as done.

West Indies however, will have taken some heart from its performance before regrouping for the second Test, starting in Abu Dhabi from October 21.

For full scorecard of the match, click here.