Pakistan made an early breakthrough, but Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo held firm as West Indies reached 66-1 at lunch on the first day of the opening Test on Thursday. Mohammad Hafeez – opening the bowling – claimed the scalp of West Indies opener Devon Smith, but Simmons, not out on 30, and Bravo, not out on 23, carried the home side to the interval without further loss after they decided to bat.
Off-spinner Hafeez bowled the left-handed Smith for 13 in the sixth over of the match, with a well-pitched straight delivery. But the Pakistanis’ strategic move to start with Hafeez reaped limited success, as Bravo joined Simmons and put on 51 for the second wicket. Pakistan hemmed-in the two West Indies batsmen with four close fielders, and runs came at a premium for most of the morning period. The Pakistans only allowed the shackles to become loose in the last half-hour before the interval when Simmons struck successive boundaries off Saeed Ajmal – a drive through cover, and a pull through mid-wicket.
Bravo got into the act when he cut a short, wide delivery from left-arm fast-medium bowler Wahab Riaz through backward point for his second boundary. Both sides have included a Test newcomer in their starting teams. For the West Indies, it’s leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, and for Pakistan, Mohammad Salman makes his bow. For Bishoo, it’s an extra special occasion. He becomes the 289th player from the Caribbean to be handed the maroon cap in Tests in front of his home crowd.
Salman is the 206th Test player for Pakistan, and becomes the fourth wicketkeeper/batsman that the visitors have tried in the last year to fill that pivotal role due to the inconsistency of Kamran Akmal. The Pakistanis are seeking to become the latest international side to create history on Caribbean soil, seeking their maiden Test series victory here. In six previous visits, starting back in 1958, Pakistan have lost four series, and drew twice. Pakistan have won just four of the 21 Tests they have played in the Caribbean, but there is huge optimism that Misbah-ul-Haq’s side can put this matter to rest.
The Pakistanis are brimming with confidence having won the preceding one-day series 3-2, and aware that West Indies have not won a Test, let alone a Test series, in over two years.
