West Indies v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Day 3 Review: Azhar ton provides a lead of 81 for Pakistan

Building on their overnight score of 172/3, the visitors further tightened their grip over the Barbados Test as Azhar Ali racked up yet another century for Pakistan. Misbah ul-Haq’s sojourn with agony continued from the previous test. Once again, he fell just 1 run short of a century after having dexterously scored 99 of them, in his farewell series. Nevertheless, the duo secured an 81-run lead in reply to West Indies’ 312 in the first innings.

Mohammad Abbas struck with the new ball to dismiss Kieran Powell early on. Misbah and Azhar began the day in survival mode, as the scoreboard moved at snail’s pace. The pair added just 56 in all of 26 overs on a pitch that began to aid the spinners. It was up to the West Indies to exploit the cracks and get the oddball to shoot up to the batsmen.

Opener Azhar Ali cut a ball past backward point to bring up his 13^th Test century. However, Devendra Bishoo cashed in on the deteriorating pitch to remove the centurion, thus breaking a 98-run partnership between Misbah and Azhar.

The skipper edged forward with some fearless cricket. He pulled out the odd reverse sweep when the spinners fired the ball on leg stump. His wicket however set off a frenzied 20 minutes of play which saw Pakistan slump from 316 for 4 to 329 for 7; they were just 17 ahead of the West Indies.

As has been the leitmotif of this series, the hosts couldn’t capitalize on Pakistan’s collapse. Wayward bowling in the final session of play meant the visitors comfortably added another 64 runs. In response to Pakistan’s 393 in the first innings, West Indies lost Kieran Powell in the second innings cheaply with Mohammad Abbas being the beneficiary.

The Windies will begin Day 4 with their backs against the wall – a score of 40/1. It will take some batting from the West Indies to brave the likes of Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Amir, not to mention the turn and bounce that the two leggies will feast on. An exciting couple of days lie ahead in this Bridgetown Test.

Brief Scores:

West Indies 312/10 in 98.5 overs (Chase 131, Holder 58, Abbas 4/56, Amir 3/65)

Pakistan 393/10 in 140 overs (Azhar 105, Misbah 99, Gabriel 4/81, Holder 3/42)

West Indies 40/1 in 14 overs (Hetmyer 22*)

Check the full scorecard here.