Pak-WI Test: Pakistan pushes ahead despite Bravo fight
DUBAI – Batsman’s 87 helps West Indies chip away at the lead to end Day 3 at 315 for 6, trailing by 264 runs
Darren Bravo waged a lone battle in the final session of Day 3 of the first day-night Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Saturday (October 15) to help West Indies reach 315 for 6 by stumps. The Trinidadian fell half an hour before stumps after taking West Indies past the 300-run mark.
Jason Holder (10 no.) and Shane Dowrich (27 no.) were unbeaten at the crease at the end of the day’s play.
Bravo (87) followed up Marlon Samuels’s (76) half-century to keep Pakistan at bay till the dinner break, when the scoreboard read 211 for 3, and he had Jermaine Blackwood alongside him, as West Indies looked to bridge the gap between the two sides’ first innings scores.
But regular fall of wickets at the other end led to Bravo running out of partners, and in the end, West Indies was still trailing Pakistan by 264 runs after the host had posted a gargantuan 579 for 3 before declaring its first innings. Jason Holder and Co. still require 64 to avoid the follow-on.
Pakistan, who removed overnight batsman Kraigg Brathwaite in the second over of the day, was left frustrated by a 118-run stand for the third wicket between Samuels and Bravo. The duo kept West Indies in the game as the bowlers toiled to squeeze out a wicket earlier in the day.
Bravo scored his 16th half-century, completed with a fluent boundary off Yasir Shah, the legspinner. He hit nine fours and a six during his 258-ball stay in the middle. Shah looked threatening throughout, ending with figures of 2 for 97. But the pitch didn’t offer much turn while Bravo and Samuels steadied West Indies in the two-hour session.
Samuels hit two boundaries off the first two balls he faced in what was an aggressive knock, studded with 13 boundaries. He looked set for his first hundred since April last year but fell lbw to Sohail Khan as he missed an incoming delivery.
Wahab Riaz struck twice after the dinner break to remove Blackwood (37), caught behind by Sarfraz Ahmed, and Roston Chase (6), who looped the ball in the air trying to evade a bouncer, only to be caught by Babar Azam at leg slip.
Bravo became Mohammad Nawaz’s first Test victim when he inside-edged a sharply turning delivery to Azhar Ali at forward short leg.
In the morning, after West Indies resumed at 69 for 1, Pakistan was rewarded for its disciplined bowling when Shah bowled Brathwaite for 32 with a delivery which turned slightly and beat the bat.
