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AFP
Bridgetown (Barbados)
Azhar Ali and an extremely fortunate Ahmed Shehzad navigated the afternoon session for an unbroken opening stand of 106 in reply to the West Indies first innings total of 312 at tea on the second day of the second Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Monday.
Dropped at mid-on by Vishaul Singh off fast bowler Shannon Gabriel at the start of his innings before lunch, Shehzad benefited from two even more outrageous reprieves after the interval to be unbeaten on 40.
His unconvincing innings has been in stark contrast to opening partner Ali, who will resume on an assured 54 in the day's final period of play having stroked six fours off 109 deliveries.
With the two batsmen labouring to keep the score moving along on a warm afternoon, Shehzad was ruled LBW off Gabriel when on 21 only for the decision to be overturned after television replays determined the delivery to be a no-ball.
Lightning then struck twice for the same man after he was stranded down the pitch and stumped to the bowling of off-spinner Roston Chase on 32, the batsman almost reaching the pavilion when he was summoned by the umpires to return to the crease as the replays again showed the bowler to have transgressed the front crease.
Those lucky moments consolidated what has been Pakistan's day so far after they wrapped up the West Indies first innings within an hour of the start.
Mohammad Abbas led the visiting bowlers'effort with two more wickets to finish with four for 56, the best figures by a Pakistan fast bowler in Test innings at the venue, bettering Wasim Akram's four for 73 in 1988, as the home team lost their last four wickets for the addition of 26 more runs.
West Indies'hopes of pushing towards a total closer to the 400-run mark were dashed within the first nine deliveries of the morning as their first-day heroes, Chase and Jason Holder, were dismissed without any addition to the overnight total of 286 for six.
Holder was the first to go, his late decision to pull away from an Abbas delivery resulting in an inside-edge to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Mohammad Amir then removed Chase, whose 131 was the first Test century by a Barbadian on home soil for 18 years.
Drawn forward by a full-length delivery, his indeterminate prod resulted in a thick outside edge for Younis Khan to snare his third catch of the innings at second slip.
Devendra Bishoo played in his usual pugnacious manner but Abbas'insistence to captain Misbah ul Haq for another over reaped immediate rewards when Bishoo lifted an on-drive to Yasir Shah at mid-on.
Shah then wrapped up the innings when Alzarri Joseph was bowled missing a heave at a full-toss in the leg-spinner's first over of the morning.
