Persistent Yasir gives Pakistan headway

ROSEAU, Dominica: Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah took all three wickets to restrict the West Indies to 97 for three in reply to the tourists’ first innings total of 376 at lunch at Windsor Park here on Friday.

For the first hour of play today, West Indies replicated Pakistan’s run-scoring model from the second day. They meandered along at a scoring rate of well less than two. Then there was a brief surge before Yasir Shah hit back with three wickets even as West Indies tried to attack to him.

Resolute defence from Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieron Powell — who registered West Indies’ highest opening partnership of the series — kept them at bay initially. It didn’t help Pakistan that the pitch was slow and the ball hardly moved, and batting looked easy, if not exciting.

The session came to life when Powell decided to take the attack to Yasir. After shuffling across and sweeping him to the vacant square leg boundary, he dragged a lofted hit to Azhar Ali at deep midwicket. Shimron Hetmyer came out with the same plan of not allowing Yasir to settle.

He drove Yasir for a boundary in the first over he faced him. Soon after, he dispatched a short delivery for six over deep midwicket. But the wily legspinner had the last laugh again, getting one to turn in sharply from the rough, kissing Hetmyer’s gloves with Sarfraz Ahmed taking a sharp catch. Pakistan may have not had the wicket had Sarfraz not confidently signalled for a review almost the moment umpire Bruce Oxenford adjudged not out.

Even so, West Indies still looked for scoring opportunities off Yasir, who conceded more than half the runs of the entire innings. It wasn’t that he was bowling poorly — a lot of his balls were perfect legspinners with sharp turn — but his consistency deserted him, prompting a rare reprimand from his captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Yet, it didn’t seem like he was far away from a wicket either.

That duly arrived in the last over before lunch when Brathwaite, who looked fairly comfortable up until then, jabbed at a delivery that spun away sharply to take the edge through to the wicketkeeper. The deadlock of the first hour was well and truly broken by then.

Score Board

West Indies won toss

Pakistan 1st innings 376 all-out (Azhar Ali 127, Misbah-ul-Haq 59; R Chase 4-103)

West Indies 1st innings

K C Brathwaite c Sarfraz b Yasir     29

K O A Powell c Azhar b Yasir 31

S O Hetmyer c Sarfraz b Yasir       17

S D Hope not out      15

Extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 1)       5

Total (3 wickets; 43.1 overs)         97

To bat: R L Chase, V A Singh, †S O Dowrich, *J O Holder, D Bishoo, A S Joseph, S T Gabriel

Fall: 1-43, 2-69, 3-97

Bowling: Amir 12-4-14-0 (1w); Abbas 12-4-21-0; Yasir 13.1-2-49-3; Hasan 6-1-11-0 (1nb, 1w)

Test debut: Hasan Ali (Pakistan)

Umpires: R K Illingworth (England) and B N J Oxenford (Australia). TV umpire: R A Kettleborough (England). Match referee: B C Broad (England)