MULTAN: Noman Ali and Sajid Khan guided Pakistan to a strong position against the West Indies after another spin-dominated second day’s play in the opening Test in Multan on Saturday.

The spin duo shared nine wickets between them to dismiss the West Indies for 137 in reply to the home team’s 230 all out.

By the close, Pakistan stretched their lead to 202 by scoring 109-3 in their second innings, with Kamran Ghulam and Saud Shakeel batting on nine and two respectively when bad light ended play 25 minutes early.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (2-17) dismissed Mohammad Hurraira for 29 after an opening stand of 67 and Babar Azam for a second failure, trapped leg-before for five.

Skipper Shan Masood looked solid for his 52, hitting two sixes and two fours, before Warrican ran him out after attempting a quick single.

“The weather is foggy so if we have continuous play and take our lead over 300 then we can win this Test,” said Sajid. “It’s great to bowl with Noman, who always guides me.” Warrican wants the target to be under 250.

“Obviously we don’t want to get the lead go over 250 because it’s a spin-favouring surface,” said Warrican. “We need a good comeback in batting the second time around on this pitch.”

The dry and grassless Multan pitch has already produced 23 wickets in six sessions — 19 on day two — even though two-and-a-half hours were lost on day one and another 30 minutes on Saturday because of poor visibility.

Noman grabbed 5-39 for his seventh five-wicket haul in Tests while Sajid finished with 4-65 to dismiss the West Indies after lunch in a first innings that lasted just 25.2 overs.

Noman and Sajid, who shared 39 of the 40 wickets in the last two Tests against England in Pakistan’s 2-1 series win last year, were once again unplayable.

Sajid opened the bowling and removed Mikyle Louis (one), Keacy Carty (0), Kraigg Brathwaite (11) and Kavem Hodge (four) in his first three overs.

Noman then further jolted the tourists with another four wickets to leave them tottering on 66-8.

The tailenders showed more resistance, with number 10 batsman Warrican unbeaten on 31 and Gudakesh Motie adding 19. Jayden Seales was the last wicket to fall for 22.

Seales hit three sixes before holing out off spinner Abrar Ahmed. Earlier, Warrican took 3-69 as Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 43 runs after resuming at 143-4.

Saud top-scored for Pakistan with 84 off 157 deliveries, including six boundaries, while keeper Mohammad Rizwan added 71. Saud added an invaluable 141 for the fifth wicket with Rizwan, lifting Pakistan from a precarious 46-4 on day one.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 143-4):

Shan Masood c Imlach b Motie 11

Mohammad Hurraira c Imlach b Seales 6

Babar Azam c Imlach b Seales 8

Kamran Ghulam lbw b Seales 5

Saud Shakeel c Imlach b Sinclair 84

Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Sinclair 71

Salman Ali Agha b Warrican 2

Noman Ali run out 0

Sajid Khan b Warrican 18

Khurram Shahzad c Brathwaite b Warrican 7

Abrar Ahmed not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-8, NB-5, W-3) 18

TOTAL (all out, 68.5 overs) 230

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Huraira), 2-20 (Shan), 3-31 (Kamran), 4-46 (Babar), 5-187 (Saud), 6-197 (Salman), 7-200 (Noman), 8-200 (Rizwan), 9-225 (Khurram)

BOWLING: Motie 15-1-48-1, Seales 14-2-27-3, Greaves 3-0-12-0, Sinclair 15-1-61-2 (1w, 5nb), Warrican 20.5-3-69-3, Brathwaite 1-0-3-0

WEST INDIES (1st Innings):

K. Brathwaite b Sajid 11

M. Louis b Sajid 1

K. Carty c Huraira b Sajid 0

K. Hodge c&b Sajid 4

A. Athanaze lbw b Noman 6

J. Greaves b Noman 4

T. Imlach lbw b Noman 6

K. Sinclair c Kamran b Noman 11

G. Motie b Noman 19

J. Warrican not out 31

J. Seales c Rizwan b Abrar 22

EXTRAS (B-16, LB-4, NB-2) 22

TOTAL (all out, 25.2 overs) 137

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10 (Louis), 2-10 (Carty), 3-21 (Brathwaite), 4-22 (Hodge), 5-34 (Greaves), 6-42 (Imlach), 7-51 (Athanaze), 8-66 (Sinclair), 9-91 (Motie)

BOWLING: Sajid 12-0-65-4, Khurram 1-0-7-0 (1nb), Noman 11-2-39-5 (1nb), Abrar 1.2-1-6-1

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings):

Shan Masood run out 52

Mohammad Hurraira lbw b Warrican 29

Babar Azam lbw b Warrican 5

Kamran Ghulam not out 9

Saud Shakeel not out 2

EXTRAS (B-11, NB-1) 12

TOTAL (for three wickets, 31 overs) 109

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-67 (Huraira), 2-89 (Babar), 3-106 (Shan)

STILL TO BAT: Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Abrar Ahmed

BOWLING: Motie 9-0-39-0, Seales 5-0-13-0, Sinclair 5-1-16-0 (1nb), Warrican 10-3-17-2, Hodge 2-0-13-0

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025