da bwin： Shannon Gabriel’s second five-for helped West Indies skittle Pakistan for 81 and level the three-match series at 1-1
da 888casino： The Report by Danyal Rasool04-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:22
Great to have some success – Gabriel
Twenty years ago, a West Indies side led by Brian Lara set India 120 for victory at the Kensington Oval. They had never lost a Test in Bridgetown to a subcontinent side, but that record looked in serious threat against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. West Indies, however, took just 35.5 overs to skittle India out for 81 to extend a glorious run at their stronghold.Fast forward to 2017 and a completely different West Indies side, both in personnel and prestige, took on another subcontinent powerhouse, Pakistan, at the same venue. West Indies were dominated for most parts of four days, but Shai Hope’s 90 that set a 188-run target helped script a remarkable turnaround.On the final day, Shannon Gabriel took five wickets in a hostile spell as Pakistan were skittled for 81 again. This Bajan fortress might have creaked, but it did not tumble as the hosts put in an inspired bowling performance to level the series.Pakistan found their legs turning to jelly in a chase of 188 on a pitch that had shown signs of deterioration very early in the Test. They played for the demons in the pitch, and paid the price. Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad’s conservative approach – they scored six in the first six overs – set the tone.Azhar was the first to fall, attempting to pull a short delivery from Gabriel over midwicket, unwisely trusting the bounce. He mistimed the shot horribly, sending it straight to midwicket. Babar Azam nicked down leg two deliveries later to record his first pair in Tests. That one of Pakistan’s brightest prospects was undone by an innocuous delivery could arguably be seen as the decisive wicket.More misery awaited Pakistan as Younis Khan was dismissed shortly after. Jason Holder banged one in slightly short of a good length, well outside off stump. As Younis shaped up, it darted back in, kept low and made a beeline for his pads. It struck him dead in front of middle.Shannon Gabriel’s hostile spell in the first session set up West Indies’ series-leveling win•AFP
Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq both came and went within minutes of each other, their wickets brought about by Gabriel’s brilliance. Misbah got a thick inside edge that lobbed to gully, but West Indies may not have had the wicket if they did not review, for the original appeal was for lbw. Two balls later, Shafiq’s poke was taken on the third attempt at first slip by Kieran Powell, who had reprieved Ahmed Shehzad earlier.The procession continued after lunch as Shehzad and debutant Shadab Khan fell within three overs of the resumption. Shehzad was unfortunate, falling to a delivery from Alzarri Joseph that was almost a replica of the ball that accounted for Younis, but Shadab – whose introduction to Test cricket has been less spectacular than his limited-overs debuts – was removed by a delivery that held its off-stump line. Shadab could only nick to the wicketkeeper.Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir counter-attacked to take Pakistan past their lowest Test score of 49, but they were riding their luck. When Amir sliced a drive into the hands of point, it was a wicket that had been coming all along.There was time for Gabriel to clinch a richly deserved five-wicket haul with the perfect fast bowler’s delivery. It pitched on off stump and clipped the top of off, and batsmen better than Yasir Shah would have done well to keep that out. The knockout blow came next over as Sarfraz lofted Holder to wide long-on, with Roston Chase stationed there for precisely that shot.The man who had got West Indies’ fightback started with a first-innings century made no mistake, but Pakistan, dazed and shell-shocked after a remarkable morning’s cricket from the hosts, had plenty to rue.
