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Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Barbados, Day 1: Roston Chase keeps Pakistan at bay with gritty ton

Roston Chase is the man for West Indies when in peril. He had defied Pakistan in the first innings of the series opener at Kingston with a solid half-century. In the second game, he went one step ahead.

Roston Chase acknowledges his home crowd after scoring his 2nd Test century © AFP
Roston Chase acknowledges his home crowd after scoring his 2nd Test century © AFP

Roston Chase is the man for West Indies when in peril. He had defied Pakistan in the first innings of the series opener at Kingston, Jamaica, with a solid half-century. In the second game, he went one step ahead. The situation he had walked in was almost the same as at Kingston. He scored an unbeaten 131 to keep Pakistan at bay from attaining dominance, and in the process, putting up an unbeaten stand of 132 runs for the seventh wicket with his skipper Jason Holder (58*). Chase and holder  eventually took West Indies to a respectable position at the end, at 286 for 6 ensuring Pakistan were kept at bay at stumps on Day One at Barbados. Full Cricket Scorecard: Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd Test at Barbados

Resuming from the score of 166 for 6, Chase and Holder added 120 runs in the last session scoring at around 3.23 runs per over (RPO), frustrating Pakistan. Things were precarious for West Indies having lost 6 wickets since the start of the day. But there were slender hopes of a revival from the hosts as they had Chase batting on 70 along with Holder who was yet to open his account.

Misbah-ul-Haq shuffled his bowlers the best way he could. Handing Shadab Khan his debut game instead of pacer Wahab Riaz, Pakistan went in with two spinners in Shadab and Yasir Shah and two pacers in Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Abbas. But in the last session, nothing went according to what Pakistan would have hoped for. There were clean strokes from both batsmen. Both took calculated risks playing against Yasir and Shadab, not letting them dominate the final session.

Yasir tossed the ball hoping for drift every now and then and pitching the ball well outside off with Younis Khan at slip. But both Chase and Holder taking full advantage of their height, covered the turn of the ball by going to its pitching point. Once they settled in, runs came in a flurry as Chase and Holder played out a few cracking boundaries through cover and point region.

As the ball became old, there was hardly any swing on offer for Aamer and Abbas. But despite this, both tried their best to get something off the wicket and put pressure on their respective ends. But with runs easily available against spinners, both batsmen looked comfortable leaving the deliveries into wicketkeeper’s gloves.

Chase, carrying on his impressive form since the first Test, gave his home crowd a moment to remember as he smashed a four off Shadab to get to his second Test hundred — the first being against India at Port of Spain last year. There was sheer delight in his celebration as he knew what he had achieved for his team with his ton.

Soon, Holder who had been busy taking singles and rotating strikes, shifted his batting gears seeing the tired Pakistani bowlers. Even though Pakistan took the new ball with Aamer and Abbas brought back into the attack, Holder looked at ease scoring runs and eventually getting his hard-fought fifty.

Initially, West Indies opted to bat with the unchanged side from the first Test. But just like the first Test, their top-order faltered against fiery spells from Aamer and Abbas, and soon by Yasir and Shadab. Kraigg Brathwaite (9), Shimron Hetmyer (1), Shai Hope (5), Vishaul Singh (3) all perished one after the other. Kieran Powell (38), Shane Dowrich (29) displayed some resistance, but not good enough to stop Pakistan from getting 6 wickets in the first two sessions — 3 wickets each in two sessions.

Brief scores:

West Indies 286 for 6 (Kieran Powell 38, Roston Chase 131*, Jason Holder 58*; Mohammad Abbas 2 for 42, Mohammad Aamer 2 for 56, Yasir Shah1 for 83, Shadab Khan 1 for 90) vs Pakistan.

Full Cricket Scorecard: Pakistan vs West Indies 2nd Test at Barbados

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