Solid Brathwaite leads fightback

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder led a brilliant West Indies fightback by scoring half-centuries, to give the home side the upper hand after yesterday’s day two of the first Test against Pakistan at Sabina Park.

Before the Test match, Brathwaite said he and his batsmen knew what they had to do, and he surely put his money where his mouth is by scoring a valiant 97 while Holder weighed in with a dogged 58, to lead the West Indies to 251 for eight at stumps for a lead of 34 runs after Pakistan made 217.

Resuming on two for two on the second morning, the right-handed Brathwaite decided that he would be the anchor of the West Indies innings, and the Barbadian toiled for over six hours to resuscitate the innings of the regional side.

Brathwaite faced a whopping 221 balls in his knock which included 12 fours. However, just when a deserved hundred was looking on the cards, the right-hander was run out by Hasan Ali, to the dismay of his teammates and sparse support staff on hand.

Before that, the right-hander had shared in some crucial partnerships to get the West Indies the first-innings lead. First, he added 50 runs with Roston Chase, who made 21, before he edged a Hasan Ali delivery to the wicketkeeper, at 51 for three.

Jermaine Blackwood then joined his skipper, and the pair added another valuable 49 runs before Blackwood played another injudicious shot and was caught at mid-on off Shaheen Afridi for 22.

Kyle Mayers went the very next ball to hand the West Indies their third duck of the innings. However, Brathwaite found another useful partner in Holder, and the pair took control during a magnificent 96-run sixth-wicket stand which knocked the stuffing out of the visitors.

Holder brought up his 50 off 95 balls with nine fours, but when he got to 58, he edged one behind off Faheem Asraf to break the lengthy partnership.

After Brathwaite got the West Indies past Pakistan’s first-innings total and lost his wicket, wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and the lower order ensured the West Indies had the upper hand heading into today’s third day.

Da Silva will resume on 20 with Jomel Warrican on one. Mohammad Abbas who picked up two wickets late on the opening day, added another on day two to end with three for 42 at close of play while Shaheen Shah Afridi has picked up two for 59.

Brathwaite, while disappointed at not getting to the three figures, was pleased that he and Holder were able to lead the team to a good position heading into today’s third day.

“The key was to be patient and once we commit to putting the bad balls away and let them come to us, we stayed in that bubble for longer periods which really helped. We have two wickets remaining and there is no reason why we can’t put up 50 more runs,” said Brathwaite.SCOREBOARDPakistan 1st innings 217

West Indies 1st Innings

(overnight 2-2)

*K. Brathwaite run out 97

K. Powell c Imran Butt b Mohammad Abbas 0

N. Bonner lbw b Mohammad Abbas 0

R. Chase c wkp Mohammad Rizwan b Hasan Ali 21

J. Blackwood c Mohammad Abbas b Shaheen Shah Afridi 22

K. Mayers lbw b Shaheen Shah Afridi 0

J. Holder c wkp Mohammad Rizwan b Faheem Ashraf 58

+J. Da Silva not out 20

K. Roach lbw b Mohammad Abbas 13

J. Warrican not out 1

Extras (b3, lb10, nb6) 19

Total (8 wkts, 87 overs) 251

To bat: J Seales.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-51, 4-100, 5-100, 6-196, 7-221, 8-249.

Bowling: Mohammad Abbas 21-9-42-3, Shaheen Shah Afridi 20-5-59-2 (nb1), Yasir Shah 13-1-46-0, Faheem Ashraf 14-6-37-1, Hasan Ali 19-4-54-1 (nb5).

Position: West Indies lead by 34 runs with two first-innings wicket intact.

Toss: West Indies

Umpires: Joel Wilson, Gregory Brathwaite; TV – Leslie Reifer Jr.