Twitter Reactions: Pakistan in command after fifties from Babar Azam and Fawad Alam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam once again oozed class and saved the day for his team with a brilliant performance at Sabina Park in the second Test against West Indies. He was well supported by Fawad Alam as despite a poor start, the visitors ended the day with control on the Test match. When the umpires decided to call stumps due to bad light, Pakistan had made 212 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Earlier in the day, West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite had no hesitation to opt to bowl after winning the toss. The spicy pitch paved the way for some brilliant new ball bowling from Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales. The former was lethal to start with as he sent back Abid Ali and Azhar Ali in his first two overs itself. Seales then struck soon to dismiss Imran Butt.

Pakistan were reeling at 2/3 after four overs and fears of the home team rolling them over in the first session started lingering in their fans’ mind. But one of the best modern day batsmen, Babar Azam and Fawad Alam weathered the storm to start with and when the pitch settled down, made the most of the best batting conditions.

They survived a few plays and misses and didn’t commit to any shot in the first hour or so before punishing any wide delivery. West Indies’ back up bowlers weren’t good enough as Alzarri Joseph leaked runs in his first few overs which released the pressure on Pakistan.

Babar and Alam give control to Pakistan

As the conditions eased down considerably, Babar Azam showed his class playing some gorgeous strokes. His drives were pleasing to the eyes of a purist cricket fan while Alam was gritty churning out runs in his own way. The two added 148 runs for the third wicket and also got to their fifties in the process. Interestingly, West Indies bowlers didn’t break the partnership but the humidity in the middle got to Fawad.

He was cramping in the 54th over and had no option but to walk off the field retired hurt but not before scoring 76 off 149 deliveries with 11 fours. This gave an opening to the hosts and Kemar Roach soon found an edge of Babar’s bat who got out after scoring a stylish 75 off 174 balls. At 168/4 with Fawad retired hurt, West Indies would’ve hoped to pick more wickets and get into Pakistan’s lower-order.

But Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf played nicely not giving an inch to the opposition. The duo added 44 runs for the fifth wicket stand were unbeaten on 22 and 23 respectively before umpires called stumps due to bad light. With the second new ball only six overs away, the Caribbeans will still fancy their chances to run through the rest of the Pakistan line-up.

On the other hand, the visitors will believe they can put enough pressure on West Indies if they somehow get close to the 300-run mark in their first innings. A lot will depend how will the first session on Day two pan out and the veteran Kemar Roach who took three wickets will be key to the proceedings.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: