The visitors finished Day 1 at 169/2 with over twenty overs lost due to rain after West Indies won the toss and opted to field first.

By Abdullah Ansari (10th May, 2017)

Toss: West Indies won the toss, Jason Holder chose to field first.

Teams

West Indies: KC Brathwaite, KOA Powell, SO Hetmyer, SD Hope, VA Singh, SO Dowrich†, RL Chase, JO Holder*, D Bishoo, AS Joseph, ST Gabriel

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas

Holder won the toss and opted to bowl first in cloudy conditions as West Indies opted for an unchanged side. Pakistan included Shan in place of an unwell Shehzad while Hasan made his debut, replacing Shadab. There was a bit of drizzle around as the innings got underway. The openers were circumspect against the new ball bowlers with Azhar taking majority of the strike. Holder opted to bring Chase into the attack as the first-change option and there looked to be some help for spinners on offer straight away with turn and bounce. Holder came into the attack and reviewed a not out decision against Azhar, with the umpire proving to be correct as the ball was missing the stumps. Pakistan found runs hard to come by and the home side eventually got the breakthrough as Shan edged one to Holder in the slips off Chase's bowling. Azhar was more positive with the new man Babar as he looked to disrupt Chase's line and length, lofting him for two sixes. Babar got going as well with a couple of boundaries and followed it up with strike rotation to keep the scoreboard moving. Pakistan went to the Lunch break at 70/1.

The start of the second session was delayed by 40 minutes due to rain but only two overs were bowled before the rain arrived again and this time there was a longer break. Over 90 minutes of play were lost as Tea was taken early before the start of an elongated session. Soon after the resumption, Babar edged one that spun and bounced off Bishoo's bowling but the wicket-keeper was late to react and grassed the chance. Run-scoring was once again difficult after the rain delays but the batsmen soldiered on. There were some worrying signs for the home side as first Gabriel looked to be in some discomfort, holding his side while Holder also seemed to be troubled by his right shoulder. Azhar soon brought up his fifty then hit a couple of fours off Holder to raise the hundred partnership as well. A few overs later, Babar got to his fourth Test fifty. A few tight overs later, Babar tried to drive one off Joseph's bowling but only succeeded in getting a thin edge to the first slip fielder as he was dismissed for 55. The retiring Younis got a guard of honour from the West Indian players as he strode out to the crease. Pakistan's highest Test run-scorer, however, didn't find run-scoring opportunities easily while Azhar was also on the back-foot as the clock winded down on Day 1 with play eventually called off due to bad light with 69 overs bowled in the day. Pakistan finished at 169/2 with Azhar unbeaten on 85*.

Fall of wickets: 

1-19 (Shan Masood, 12.4 ov)
2-139 (Babar Azam, 54.2 ov)

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