West Indies’ fabulous victory in the final Test here on Thursday was undoubtedly a parting gift for a team which was otherwise at the receiving end from the start of this series against Pakistan, having lost all the eight matches prior to the third Test, including the ODIs and the T20s besides the two Tests at Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively.

But to bounce back and dominate the proceedings throughout this third and final Test is surely a substantial feat for them, which also happens to be their first win in the last fourteen Tests and the first outside West Indies and Bangladesh in a long time.

Captain Jason Holder, having his first taste of victory as captain, was obviously delighted at the culmination of the match which took his team just forty minutes of the morning to wrap it up. “This is an important and much needed result for us for the fact that we badly needed it,” Holder said in his post win comments to the media.

“Discipline in batting and bowling was the key factor and I must compliment the team and especially Kraigg Brathwaite who showed nerves of steel to bat through the innings and then take the pressure again in the second knock and see us through.”

The West Indies dominated the game and Pakistan, only for a brief period on the fourth afternoon, looked like creating an upset when five of the West Indian wickets fell for 64 as they chased 153 for victory.

But bar the shouting, the game for them was almost over on Wednesday night when a determined West Indies were left with only 39 to win on the final morning

Although Misbah’s men did win the series 2-1, it surely was not a convincing end for them as their plans to whitewash the West Indies did not materialise. It is perhaps also not a good omen for a team which is embarking on two important tours against New Zealand and Australia this week.

Only a couple of days back, Pakistan’s coach Mickey Arthur talking to the media sounded unconvincing when he came up with the excuse of fatigue, tiredness for his team and said his boys were also bored spending time within to the four walls of a hotel for a such a long time. But he then went on to add that, “We have already achieved our mission having won the series,” which I thought was abrasive and childish.

His statement also gave me the impression that complacency had already set in with Misbah and his men, which showed up in the end.

After the defeat, the Pakistan captain admitted that his team had paid the price for indisciplined batting. “We made mistakes and we had to pay for it in both innings. We lacked discipline in choice of playing shots and we committed blunders in both innings while failing to put a respectable score on the board,” said Misbah. “Brathwaite’s innings was a lesson for all of our batsmen,” he added.

A win here could have had an encouraging effect on them in their quest to go top in the rankings once again. The defeat, however, may now see them losing a huge sum of money before the cut off point in April when the ICC doles out money for the top ranked team.

Having said that, there were of course many positives too which should inspire them for the tough assignments ahead. A fine triple century by Azhar Ali, a brilliant hundred by Younis Khan and 21 wickets for Yasir Shah in three Tests were the home team’s highlights in the series.

For the West Indies, Brathwaite carrying his bat through an innings in the final Test and another unbeaten innings in the second knock here, Darren Bravo’s fighting century in the first Test in a losing cause and Devindra Bishoo’s wily leg-spin were the high points.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2016