Babar rues dropped catches after defeat

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that dropped catches contributed to their heart-breaking defeat against the West Indies in the first Test on Sunday.

West Indies scrambled a pulsating one-wicket victory over Pakistan after the visitors self-destructed in the final session of the fourth day at Sabina Park.

Defending a modest target of 168 after they were dismissed in the morning session for 203, Shaheen Shah Afridi led the attack with figures of four for 50 in reducing the home side to 114 for seven at tea with only wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua da Silva and the tailenders left.

However, in scenes reminiscent of a similar one-wicket loss in the deciding Test of the 2000 series in Antigua, the Pakistanis lost the discipline in their bowling and composure in the field. “That’s the beauty of Test cricket,” Babar said in his post-match assessment of the team’s performance to the PCB.

“The way this match panned out - you could see the momentum kept swaying from one side to the other. We tried to give it our 100%. Our boys put in the effort, our bowlers and fielders put in the effort. But in the final session the one or two chances that came our way in the form of catches - had we availed of those, the result of the match could have been different.”

“When you drop catches in clutch phases, the course of the match changes,” Babar said. “We got two chances but couldn’t avail of them which is why we lost the match. That said, we did pull off a few good catches, so you took good catches but dropped a few, so you lost the match,” he added.

Babar was equally rueful about a lack of substantial partnerships. He had been in the middle of one in the first innings, guiding the score from 21 for 2 to 68 for 2 with Azhar Ali, but then West Indies removed both batters in the space of seven balls. A similar double-blow resulting in the wickets of Faheem Ashraf for 44 and Yasir Shah for 0 ensured Pakistan could make only 217 after they had been put in to bat.

West Indies won toss

Pakistan 1st Innings 217 all out (Fawad Alam 56)

West Indies 1st Innings 253 all out

Pakistan 2nd Innings 203 all out (Babar Azam 55)

West Indies 2nd Innings (target 168)

K. Brathwaite c 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 22

J. Blackwood c Imran Butt b Hasan 55

K. Mayers c Imran Butt b Faheem 0

J. Holder b Hasan Ali 16

J. da Silva c Rizwan b Shaheen 13

K. Roach not out 30

J. Warrican c Rizwan b Hasan Ali 6

J. Seales not out 2

Extras (b2, lb10, nb1) 13

Total (56.5 overs, 9 wkts) 168

Fall: 1-4 (Powell), 2-15 (Brathwaite), 3-16 (Bonner), 4-84 (Chase), 5-92 (Mayers), 6-111 (Blackwood), 7-114 (Holder), 8-142 (da Silva), 9-151 (Warrican)

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

Result: West Indies won by 1 wicket

Man of the Match: J Seales (WI)

Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite and Joel Wilson (WI)