West Indies end day at 171/4 after Azhar Ali's 79 helped Pakistan to 227-2 before declaration.

By Abdullah Ansari (24th 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 the day with a lead of 342 as Azhar and Shafiq began in a careful manner. The early overs of the day passed without incident as Azhar decided to increase the tempo. West Indies started placing defensive fields as the run came easily for the batsmen. Azhar fell for 79 to Cummins as he chased a wide one, edging it to Holder. The batsmen continued at a decent tempo as Holder went for a review against Younis, to no avail. Shafiq got to another fifty in the closing stages of the first session as West Indies awaited a declaration. Pakistan ended the session at 227/2, a lead of 455 runs.

News came through during the interval that Pakistan declared, thus setting the tourists a target of 456. The new ball once again didn't offer much help to the seamers, with Yasir Shah being brought on in just the sixth over. The decision paid dividends straight away as Johnson went for a sweep and ended up deflecting the ball onto his stumps. Brathwaite batted positively from the other end as he took the attack to the bowlers. Bravo began in his customary sedate manner but fell to Rahat in a surprise dismissal as he cut a short delivery straight to Nawaz at point for 13. Brathwaite got to a 71-ball fifty soon thereafter but then Zulfiqar came and bowled a few tight overs to limit run scoring with West Indies 86/2.

Zulfiqar and Rahat bowled fairly tightly after the break but couldn't threaten the batsmen with a breakthrough - it was once again Yasir who returned to dismiss Samuels who batted out 10 overs for his 23 before giving a simple return catch. Nawaz also finally joined the attack and got a wicket in his second over as he trapped Brathwaite LBW for 67 - the umpire initially gave it not out but the review was fruitful. Blackwood started in a positive manner but the rate of scoring slowed once again towards the close. Pakistan tried different combinations but couldn't make a further break-through as Chase and Blackwood stayed together till the end, having put on 47 as the visitors ended at 171/4.

Summary: Another day in UAE where Pakistan made strides towards a win. With the number of overs left, the batsmen performed in a regular manner in contrast to the 2nd innings performance at Dubai as Pakistan got to a big lead by Lunch. The declaration may have taken a few by surprise but fears were alleviated by regular breakthroughs. Pakistan will be disappointed to have not gotten another wicket before the close but will fancy their chances of getting the remaining six wickets on Day 5.

Fall of wickets:

2-164 (Azhar Ali, 50.3 ov)

1-28 (Johnson, 7.5 ov)
2-63 (Bravo, 18.6 ov)
3-112 (Samuels, 41.3 ov)
4-124 (Brathwaite, 44.4 ov)

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