Yasir Shah (four wickets) and Rahat Ali (three wickets) help hosts to take first-innings lead of 228.

By Abdullah Ansari (23th October, 2016)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss, Misbah-ul-Haq chose to bat first.

Teams

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali.

West Indies: KC Brathwaite, LR Johnson, DM Bravo, MN Samuels, J Blackwood, RL Chase, SD Hope (wk), JO Holder (c), D Bishoo, ML Cummins, ST Gabriel

Pakistan began proceedings on Day 3 with Yasir and Rahat as West Indies held out for a while. It took a while for Bishoo to get off the mark with the batsmen circumspect. Rahat made the break-through as Blackwood nicked a reverse-swinging delivery through to Sarfraz. The batsmen continued in a slow manner as Bishoo resisted. Chase was given out but successfully reviewed, while Pakistan also took an unsuccessful review. After a lengthy period, Sohail made the break-through with a delivery that moved away slightly, squaring up Bishoo who was bowled for 20. At one point, Pakistan bowled six straight maidens as West Indies went to Lunch at 151/6, scoring only 45 runs in the session.

The second session began with Nawaz finally getting a chance to bowl after 73 overs in the innings. The West Indian batsmen survived the overs until Pakistan took the new ball. Yasir was the one who surprisingly took it and the decision paid off straight away as Chase went for a big drive to a ball that turned, edging to slip where Shafiq took a sharp catch. In his next over, the leg-spinner knocked over Hope who tried to pull a delivery that was too full for the shot, getting bowled. Holder and Cummins resisted for a few overs until the latter fell to an away swinging delivery by Sohail which smashed into the off-stump. Holder decided to take the attack to the bowlers with just Gabriel for company as Pakistan dropped a couple of catches. Yasir wrapped up the innings as Gabriel tried to clear mid-on where Sohail took a tumbling catch as West Indies were bowled out for 224, a deficit of 228 runs.

Pakistan opted to bat again as expected after the Tea interval. The batsmen were circumspect at the start as Pakistan looked to grind down the opposition. There was an early scare for Sami as he almost ran into Azhar Ali with the fielder failing to effect a direct hit. The visitors took a review for caught behind off Azhar Ali but it was unsuccessful. Azhar Ali was then given out LBW but he reviewed straight away with replays indicating he got glove on it. A similar event happened a couple of overs later as Sami was given out, but earned a reprieve on review due to a clear inside edge. A sharp chance at slip was grassed by Blackwood as the partnership passed fifty. From then on, the batsmen were comfortable as Sami passed his fifty - he was soon dismissed caught behind down the leg-side on review, however. Pakistan reached stumps without further loss as Azhar Ali reached his fifty, finishing at 114/1, a lead of 342.

Summary: A solid day for Pakistan which puts them in a great position to get a win and a series victory. They bowled well and put pressure on the batsmen with tight bowling, as West Indies failed to put any impetus into the innings. Despite a short stand for the last wicket, Pakistan wrapped up the innings with West Indies failing to make half of the hosts' first innings score. In contrast to the previous game, Pakistan then batted in a circumspect manner in the 2nd innings thanks to the time remaining in the match, finishing with a big lead. It will take a spectacular effort by West Indies to survive defeat.

Fall of wickets:

5-121 (Blackwood, 51.6 ov)
6-144 (Bishoo, 63.5 ov)
7-169 (Chase, 80.1 ov)
8-178 (Hope, 82.5 ov)
9-197 (Cummins, 87.6 ov)
10-224 (Gabriel, 94.4 ov)

1-93 (Sami Aslam, 32.5 ov)

Discuss!