Windies delight!

The fourth day of the first Test match at Sabina Park between the West Indies and Pakistan was not one for the faint-hearted, however, the home side managed to claw their way to a nail-biting one-wicket win, which puts the hosts 1-0 up in the two-match series.

It was a concerted effort from the entire team, however, there were standout performances, first from Jayden Seales with the ball, then Jermaine Blackwood and Kemar Roach with the bat, which allowed the West Indies to chase down the 168 runs needed to win, this after the West Indies had restricted Pakistan to 204 in their second innings.

Seales was masterful with his aggressive seam bowling as his maiden Test five-wicket haul broke the backs of the Pakistani batting unit, which folded after resuming the day on 160 for five.

The Trinidadian’s man-of-the-match effort of five for 55 allowed him to become the youngest West Indies bowler to pick up a Test five-wicket haul at 19 years and 338 days, beating Alfred Valentine’s 71-year-old record.

Kemar Roach was his usual dependable self with the ball, picking up three wickets for 30 runs while Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers took a wicket each, with the latter picking up the crucial wicket of the innings top-scorer, Babar Azam, who made 55.

Set a target of 168 on a tricky Sabina Park surface, the hosts got off to the worst possible start, losing three wickets with just 16 runs on the board, thanks to a brilliant spell of fast bowling from Shaheen Shah Afridi.

BACK ON TRACK

It took a 68-run fourth-wicket stand between Blackwood and Roston Chase to get the Windies back on track, with Chase getting to 22 before he edged a Faheem Ashraf delivery to slip at 84 for four.

Blackwood eventually brought up his 50 off 69 balls with 10 fours, however, he would add just five runs more before he became the sixth wicket to fall, with the score on 111.

The scenario would get worse three runs later as Hasan Ali rattled the stumps of Jason Holder for 16 to leave the Windies at 114 for seven.

It was then down to wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and the tail to do the business, and he and Roach added a valuable 28 runs for the eighth wicket before Da Silva went caught behind off Afridi for 13.

Roach continued to play positively despite the fall of Jomel Warrican’s wicket with the score on 151, and he and last man Seales nipped away at the runs to bring the scenario right down to the end, with Roach hitting Ali through extra cover for the final two runs to seal the win.

Roach was left not out on 30 with two fours, with Seales unbeaten on two as Shaheen Shah Afridi finished with four wickets for 50 runs and Ali three for 37.

Roach said after the match that he was always confident of getting over the line.

“Just stay positive. That’s me,” he said. “I just believed in myself, and as our batting coach, Monty (Desai) says, take it one ball at a time. Shaheen was a threat, so I kept him out, and at the end of the day, we won the Test.”

The second Test begins on Friday at the same venue.

sports@gleanerjm.com

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN 1st innings 217

WEST INDIES 1st Innings 253

PAKISTAN 2nd Innings

(overnight 160 for five)

Imran Butt lbw b Roach 0

Abid Ali c Holder b Seales 34

Azhar Ali b Roach 23

*Babar Azam c Holder b Mayers 55

Fawad Alam c wkp Da Silva b Seales 0

+Mohammad Rizwan c wkp Da Silva b Holder 30

Faheem Ashraf c wkp Da Silva b Roach 20

Yasir Shah c wkp Da Silva b Seales 4

Hasan Ali c Roach b Seales 28

Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw b Seales 0

Mohammad Abbas not out 1

Extras (b4, lb2, nb2) 8

TOTAL (all out, 83.4 overs) 203

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Imran Butt), 2-56 (Azhar Ali), 3-65 (Abid Ali), 4-65 (Fawad Alam), 5-121 (Mohammad Rizwan), 6-168 (Faheem Ashraf), 7-170 (Babar Azam), 8-180 (Yasir Shah), 9-192 (Shaheen Shah Afridi), 10-203 (Hasan Ali)

Bowling: Roach 19-8-30-3, Seales 15.4-3-55-5 (nb1), Mayers 15-5-33-1, Holder 18-6-36-1 (nb1), Warrican 7-2-28-0, Chase 6-2-12-0, Brathwaite 3-1-3-0.

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (target: 168 runs)

*K Brathwaite c wkp Mohammad Rizwan b Shaheen Shah Afridi 2

K Powell lbw b Shaheen Shah Afridi 4

N Bonner b Shaheen Shah Afridi 5

R Chase c Imran Butt b Faheem Ashraf 22

J Blackwood c Imran Butt b Hasan Ali 55

K Mayers c Imran Butt b Faheem Ashraf 0

J Holder b Hasan Ali 16

+J Da Silva c wkp Mohammad Rizwan b Shaheen Shah Afridi 13

K Roach not out 30

J Warrican c wkp Mohammad Rizwan b Hasan Ali 6

J Seales not out 2

Extras (b2, lb10, nb1) 13

TOTAL (9 wkts, 56.5 overs) 168

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Powell), 2-15 (Brathwaite), 3-16 (Bonner), 4-84 (Chase), 5-92 (Mayers), 6-111 (Blackwood), 7-114 (Jason Holder, 38.4 ov), 8-142 (Joshua Da Silva, 49.4 ov), 9-151 (Warrican)

Bowling: Mohammad Abbas 12-5-27-0, Shaheen Shah Afridi 17-4-50-4 (nb1), Hasan Ali 16.5-5-37-3, Faheem Ashraf 8-1-29-2, Yasir Shah 3-0-13-0.

Result: West Indies won by one wicket.

Series: West Indies lead two-match series 1-0.

Man-of-the-Match: Jayden Seales.

Toss: West Indies

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