Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Day 4 preview: West Indies hope for a gritty performance with the bat

West Indies are trailing Pakistan by 41 runs with 9 wickets in hand.

Kraigg Brathwaite (8) and Shimron Hetmyer (22) ensured West Indies ended Day Three at 40 for 1 trailing Pakistan by 41 runs. The day saw Azhar Ali scoring his 13th Test century followed by Misbah-ul-Haq once again missing a hundred, agonisingly by a run. He became the first cricketer to register three 99s in Test cricket. In fact, no captain even has two and Misbah scored all three when at helm. After Misbah’s fall, West Indies took charge of the game winding up the tail and stopping Pakistan from piling more runs. With two days of the game remaining, West Indies will have to display plenty of grit to snatch the game from Pakistan’s grip. Full Cricket Scorecard, Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Day 3

West Indies batting has been poor – especially in the second session. The entire top-order faltered in all three occasions putting the middle and lower middle order in pressure. But with the series at stakes, the Caribbean side will have to show their true mettle against a potent Pakistani bowling line up. Brathwaite and Hetmyer had so far put up 32 runs together and they will have to carry on batting for at least the first session in the morning session on Day Four.

They need to take a cue from how Misbah and Azhar played out the entire first session on Day Three. Both have not had a good series so far and hence this is the right time for them to stand tall for their team. The task is not going to be easy for them but if they play out the first hour calmly against the new ball they stand a good chance to solidify their team’s position.

West Indies cannot keep depending on Roston Chase and Jason Holder and so, other batsmen like Shai Hope and Vishaul Singh will have to make this chance count. Pakistan need wickets. A wicket of two in the first session and the pressure will be on West Indies. Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Aamer have looked excellent with the new ball swinging either way. Hence these two pacers will play a crucial role in deriving the outcome of the game.

Also, eyes will be set on the spinning duo of Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan. With two spinners at his service, Misbah will be hoping to get the breakthroughs from these two. Also with the wicket deteriorating, there have already been puffs of dust coming out of the rough areas near the crease at both ends.

So Yasir and Shadab will definitely be targeting these rough patches to trap the Caribbean batsmen.

Pakistan still have 41 runs lead and hence they will be looking to try and bowl out West Indies quickly and replicate the Kingston result. However the two big thorns in ther way are — Chase and Holder.

Brief scores:

West Indies 312 (Roston Chase 131, Jason Holder 58; Mohammad Aamer 3 for 65, Mohammad Abbas 4 for 56) & 40 for 1 trail by Pakistan 393 (Azhar Ali 105, Ahmed Shehzad 70, Misbah-ul-Haq 99, Shanon Gabreil 4 for 81, Jason Holder 3 for 42, Devendra Bishoo 3 for 116) by 41 runs.