MULTAN: Off-spinner Sajid Khan masterminded Pakistan’s emphatic 127-run win against the West Indies with a match haul of nine wickets in the first test on Sunday (January 19, 2025).
Khan followed his four-wicket haul in the first innings with 5-50 as the West Indies were bowled out for 123 runs in the second after being set a target of 251 runs on a spinning pitch.
Alick Athanaze, playing in only his 12th test match, made a fighting 55 off 68 balls before he became Khan’s fifth victim with inexperienced West Indies resistance folding in the second session on Day 3.
“As long as we get 20 wickets and are able to put in a good performance, we will be happy,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “We did not know whether in these conditions the ball would spin as it is cold … but our spinners were clinical.”
Khan replicated his first-innings show with the new ball by yet again removing the top four batters as the tourists limped to 54-5 inside the first session that saw 11 of the 12 wickets falling to the spinners.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who shared the new ball with Khan, claimed figures of 4-27 that included the wickets of Kevin Sinclair (10) and Gudakesh Motie (0) off successive balls with both edging to Salman Ali Agha in the slips as the tourists lost their last four wickets without scoring a run.
“The batters didn’t play as well as they should have,” West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said. “We just have to be brave … it is important to be positive on these types of pitches. We should still trust our defence. If we can bring it together batting and bowling wise, we can come out on top.”
In a sensational 2-1/2-hour first session, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican had grabbed a career-best 7-32 as Pakistan batters also struggled on their own engineered wicket for spinners. Warrican featured in all but one dismissal in Pakistan’s second innings as the home team was bowled out for 157 runs inside 1-1/2 hours after resuming on 109-3.
It gave Pakistan an overall lead of 250 runs after West Indies conceded a 93-run first innings lead when it was dismissed for 137 inside one session on Day 2 in reply to Pakistan’s score of 230.
Khan removed Brathwaite (12), Mikyle Louis (13), Keacy Carty (6) and Kavem Hodge (0) for the second successive time in the match as the tourists’ ploy to counterattack the off-spinner failed with slow bowlers getting purchase off the sluggish surface.
“The team is playing together and it is great,” Khan said. “The wicket had a lot of turn and bounce. The spin bowling coach spoke to me and in the second innings, I bowled a little slower and did not leak too many runs.”
Brathwaite holed out at deep mid-wicket while going for an overly ambitious shot; Carty lobbed an easy catch behind the wicket while attempting a sweep, while Hodge and Louis were bowled by Khan’s sharp-turning deliveries.
Athanaze delayed the inevitable by sharing a 41-run stand with debutant Tevin Imlach (14) and completed his half century with a cover driven boundary before Ahmed hurried the collapse to finish off the West Indies resistance.
Warrican had earlier given West Indies hope when he had Pakistan’s best batter against spin Saud Shakeel (2) caught at short mid-wicket off the first ball of the day. Rizwan and Kamran Ghulam were then outdone by awkward bounce and edged as the left-arm spinner exploited the favorable slow-bowling conditions.
Warrican capped his brilliant bowling when he ran out Khurram Shahzad with a direct-hit throw. He could have featured in all the dismissals had West Indies gone for a lbw television review against Agha, before Motie wrapped up the innings by having Agha caught at mid-off with Pakistan losing seven wickets for 48 runs.
“It is hard out there (for batters),” Masood said. “In the second innings, we folded cheaply. There are improvements to be made. When you win, you can go on a happy ride and be happy, but we can’t do that.”
Despite Pakistan’s third successive home win on raked wickets for spinners, it is at No. 8 and West Indies is at No. 9 in the World Test Championship points table after both teams underperformed over the past year in tests. Australia and South Africa have already qualified for the June 11-15 WTC final at Lord’s.
The second test, which will be the last for both teams in this WTC cycle, starts at the same venue on Friday.
