IT LOOKED LIKE the West Indies cricketers really thought the world was truly coming to an end here yesterday.
Their second day’s performance lacked the same pride, passion and purpose that they displayed on Friday’s opening day and in the first half-hour on the second day of this second Digicel Test at Warner Park.
They had Pakistan reeling on 194 for nine and allowed them to recover to an eventual first innings 272 and then most of their batsmen surrendered their wickets with some injudicious shots.
The upshot was the West Indies ended the day on their knees on 184 for eight, 88 runs adrift of Pakistan’s total, praying for a tail-end miracle and hoping for a lifeline.
Marlon Samuels was almost like the prodigal son, marking his return to Test cricket with a matured innings of 57, which contained seven fours and two sixes off 124 balls.
Missed on 17 when his edge off left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman went through Misbah-ul-Haq’s hands at slip, Samuels tried to keep the Windies’ alive even though it seemed they wanted to dig their own graves.
But, even if Taufeeq Umar’s diving catch was a controversial one, coming off the long off boundary, Samuels, like some of his teammates, gifted his hand at a stage when he needed to bat through until the end.
Captain Darren Sammy was even more culpable, also falling to a brilliant catch, along the boundary ropes at long off by Umar Akmal, who had to do a balancing act to avoid stepping on the ropes.
Sammy’s dismissal for 16, which included his usual straight six in a promising stand of 40 with Samuels, came off the first ball following a water break after Rehman was switched to the southern end.
Earlier, before a supportive crowd of more than 2 000 spectators, the West Indies failed to perform the final rites on Pakistan’s first innings as fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal featured in an invaluable last-wicket partnership of 78 runs.
Tanvir made a Test-best 57, embellished by ten fours off 96 balls, while Ajmal contributed 23 not out off 79 balls during their 95-minute stand.
The day started encouragingly for the West Indies as Sammy had Rehman caught behind for three and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo removed wicketkeeper Mohammed Salman for 13 through a neat catch by Samuels at mid-on.
But a decision not to call for the review after umpire Billy Bowden turned down a leg before wicket appeal when Tanvir was one, which television replays showed would have been out, proved costly.
Even though pacer Kemar Roach got his first wicket with Baugh making amends by holding a regulation catch offered by Wahab Riaz after spilling a low edge from the same batsman, the West Indies were frustrated by Tanvir and Ajmal as a decision to take the second new ball with the total on 204 for nine, backfired.
With Bishoo getting the ball to bounce and turn, Sammy pulled him out of the attack and later resorted to defensive tactics, which allowed Tanvir to score freely.
Tanvir accepted Sammy’s generosity, but showed him no mercy, hitting the West Indies’ captain for consecutive fours in one over.
He reached his 50 fortuitously when an edge went past the solitary slip fielder in Simmons, where a second slip should have been, but he was finally trapped on the back foot by Bishoo, who ended with three for 80 off 32.5 overs.
Pacer Rampaul did not add to his first-day wickets, finishing with three for 68 in 26 overs.
Tanvir’s excellent work continued as with his second ball, he lured Simmons to push hard at an outswinger, which he edged to Taufeeq at second slip.
Debutant Kraigg Brathwaite took just three balls to get off the mark with a square-driven four past gully.
He also played a couple of elegant drives through mid-off and used soft hands to keep down an edge through the slips for his second boundary.
But after reaching 15 off just 22 balls, he uncharacteristically drove loosely at a delivery slanted across him from left-armer Wahab. The resultant edge was caught on the second attempt by Taufeeq at second slip.
West Indies were 24 for two at that stage and without the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had travelled back to Guyana, they needed a century from Ramnaresh Sarwan.
But they only got a cameo with three fours in a 32-ball 20 as he moved out his crease to drive Ajmal, got an inside edge and the ball squeezed past the stumps for an alert wicketkeeper Mohammed Salman to complete a quick stumping.
On the stroke of tea, Darren Bravo, who had laboured for 24 over 87 balls while adding 40 with Samuels, relaxed a bit after Ajmal was replaced by fellow off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez.
He prodded forward defensively but the ball turned and bounced, kissing the edge as it went into Asad Shafiq’s hands at second slip.
The Windies went into the interval wobbling on 94 for four and on resumption, Hafeez showed that Devon Smith’s wasn’t his only fish, by inducing Windies’ vice-captain Brendan Nash to edge to slip for six, his third single digit score.
After Sammy went, wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh’s penchant for the sweep shot, proved his undoing again but fast bowlers Rampaul (15 not out) and Roach (ten not out) enjoyed themselves towards the end of the day in an unbroken 28-run ninth-wicket stand.
Rampaul swung Rehman and Hafeez for leg-side sixes and Roach smashed Ajmal over long on for another six.
They will need to emulate Pakistan’s last-wicket pair to ensure the West Indies really stay alive in this Test.
But the Pakistani spin trio of Hafeez (2-16), Rehman (2-46) and Ajmal (2-49) may have other ideas.
SCOREBOARD:
Pakistan 1st innings
(overnight 180-6)
+Mohammed Salman c Samuels b Bishoo 13
Abdur Rehman c wk Baugh b Sammy 3
Tanvir Ahmed lbw b Bishoo 57
Wahab Riaz c wk Baugh b Roach 0
Saeed Ajmal not out 23
Extras (lb3, nb2, w4) 9
TOTAL (all out, 109.5 overs) 272
Fall of wickets (yesterday): 7-187 (Rehman), 8-187 (Salman), 9-194 (Riaz), 10-272 (Tanvir).
Bowling: K Roach 23-9-51-1; R Rampaul 26-4-68-3; D Sammy 28-6-70-2; D Bishoo 32.5-11-80-3.
West Indies 1st innings
L. Simmons c Taufeeq b Tanvir Ahmed 0
K. Brathwaite c Taufeeq b Wahab Riaz 15
Darren Bravo c Shafiq b Hafeez 24
R. Sarwan stp Salman b Ajmal 20
M. Samuels c Taufeeq b Ajmal 57
B. Nash c Misbah-ul-Haq b Hafeez 6
+C. Baugh lbw b Rehman 6
*D. Sammy c Umar Akmal b Rehman 16
K. Roach not out 10
R. Rampaul not out 15
Extras (b4, lb3, nb8) 15
TOTAL (8 wkts, 63 overs) 184
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Simmons), 2-22 (Brathwaite), 3-54 (Sarwan), 4-94 (Bravo), 5-100 (Nash), 6-107 (Baugh), 7-144 (Sammy), 8-158 (Samuels).
To bat: D. Bishoo.
Bowling: Tanvir Ahmed 5-1-13-1, Wahab Riaz 10-1-53-1 (nb8), Abdur Rehman 23-9-46-2, Saeed Ajmal 21-6-49-2, Mohammed Hafeez 4-0-16-2.
Umpires: Billy Bowden, Asoka de Silva; TV umpire: Tony Hill; Reserve umpire: Peter Nero; Match referee: Alan Hurst. (AP)
