Pakistan collapse on second day – Pakistan tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 – 1st Test, Day 2
The Pakistan batting line-up collapsed in familiar fashion to their opponents on the second day of the first test match against the West Indies at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
After restricting the West Indies to 226 runs in the first innings due to Saeed Ajmal’s master class with the bowler picking up five wickets, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team seemed to have half the job done. Yet, as it always is with the unpredictable nature of Pakistan’s
batting, a score of 160 runs was all the 11 batsmen could manage.
This leaves room open for debate. Was the Pakistan batting poor or was the West Indies bowling inspired?
There were many key moments in the Pakistani innings and the early wicket of Mohammad Hafeez was a key one. Hafeez had been the touring nation’s stand out batsman, earning the Man of the Series award in the ODI series prior to the tests. His dismissal in
just the second over was key as none of the other batsmen had performed with any real conviction in the last two ODI’s and the West Indies seemed keen to capitalise on it.
Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali did well to put together a 52 run partnership before a series of wickets fell in quick succession to put the West Indies side on top. Taufeeq Umar fell at 57 for 2, before skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq were all
sent back to the pavilion after combining for just 23 runs.
Umar Akmal and Abdur Rehman put on a brave show, adding another 50 runs to the scoreboard before Akmal departed for 33 runs. The tail did not last long either as Pakistan was bowled all out for 150 runs.
The fact that only four batsmen reached double figures is a concern for the touring side as the rest of the squad could not even surpass the five run mark. Key players like Misbah-ul-Haq, who is one of the few senior batsmen in the squad, disappointed when
there was plenty depending on him.
On the other hand, credit must be given to the West Indies bowlers who applied pressure from the word go and did not relent, steadily turning the screws and not allowing the batsmen to settle down.
Devendra Bishoo was playing his first test match and with a four-wicket haul, he seems to be on his way to making this game a memorable one. Bishoo took four wickets that tore through Pakistan’s middle order like a very hot knife through very soft butter
dismissing Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Salman in quick succession before sending danger-man, Umar Akmal back to the pavilion later on.
The quantity and quality of his wickets turned the tide of the match as it exposed Pakistan’s miserably weak lower order for his fellow bowlers to finish the job off.
West Indies used only four bowlers, but did so with devastating effect. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJG-Sammy-c1382, pitched in with a handy two wickets himself that had the opposition reeling.
However, it is still early on in the Test and it seems to be a track that is favouring the bowlers more than the batsmen. The side that can stay on the pitch for longer periods will have a better chance of sneaking their way to a win.
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