West Indies rearguard but Pakistan strike back

Dubai - Bravo, who had shown oodles of patience right through the day, was in sight of an eighth Test hundred, but couldn't see through the night.

When the West Indians touched down in Dubai for this gruelling tour in mid-September, for all intents and purposes, it was a given that they would do well in the three-match T20 series. After all they came in with the reputation of being the format's world champions.
But then, everyone knows what transpired in those three games as it was an abject display against Sarfraz Ahmed's men. And it was pretty much a similar story in the three-match ODI series that followed, with the only bright spot being the misfiring West Indies top order faring a bit better.
Quite naturally, as we entered the final instalment of the tour - the Tests, there were reasons to be apprehensive about this Test team, as they were not even a patch of those great West Indies side of the 70s and 80s.  So, obviously there was not much of a hope, especially, going against a Pakistan Test team, which had scaled to No.1 in the world rankings before settling in nicely at No.2.
In recent times, Test cricket wasn't really West Indies' strongest suit and that notion was further enhanced when Pakistan and the brilliant Azhar Ali put them to the sword over the course of the first two days of this first day-night Test in Asia and the UAE. But for the first time on the tour, the West Indies contradicted those notions. 
They conjured a much improved batting performance to keep Pakistan at bay for most of the day as well as the night, before Misbah-ul-Haq's men hit back towards the fag end.  Wahad Riaz worked a nice bit of pace with the second new ball to inflict twin blows on the West Indies middle-order. After a fine rearguard from Darren Bravo (87) and Marlon Samuels (76) as well as Jermaine Blackwood (37), Riaz struck to remove Blackwood and Roston Chase.
Bravo, who had shown oodles of patience right through the day, was in sight of an eighth Test hundred, but couldn't see through the night, being dismissed with nine overs left for stumps.  Bravo inside edged Mohammad Nawaz to Azhar Ali at forward short leg to give the left-arm spinner his first Test wicket.
Earlier, Nawaz had been warned twice for running on the danger area of the pitch. The West Indians' hard work through the day came a bit undone as they ended the third night on 315 for 6, still 264 adrift and requiring another 65 to avoid the follow-on. Earlier, the West Indies, resuming the day on 69 for 1, made the disciplined Pakistan bowling attack toil.
The West Indies fightback was built on a stoic 113-run stand for the third wicket between Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo after opener Kraigg Brathwaite had gone without adding to his overnight score of 32. Samuels served up the right amount of caution and aggression to dent the Pakistan attack with a vital half-century, his 24th in Tests.
His 76 was worth its weight in gold for the West Indies and gave them a bit to cheer about on what has been a poor tour. But anchoring the West Indies' innings was Darren Bravo.
Overnight on 14, Bravo showed oodles of patience to score his 16th half-century. Brathwaite was the only wicket to fall in the first session, foxed by leg spinner Yasir Shah in the second over of the day. Shah is nudging towards 100 Test wickets and he is on 97 at the moment after snapping up both the openers.
Samuels fell leg before to Sohail Khan after which Bravo strung together 77 runs for the fourth wicket with Blackwood. Pakistan took the second new ball in the 83rd over after which Riaz ended Blackwood's cameo seven overs later.
Riaz was to strike again, removing Chase in his next over. After which, Bravo was gone as the West Indies brought up their 300.
james@khaleejtimes.com