Published: Oct 17, 2016, 03:51 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 17, 2016, 03:51 PM (IST)
Pakistan‘s coach Mickey Arthur has stated that the hosts’ batting line-up gave West Indies leg spinner Devendra Bishoo “eight soft wickets” during their second innings on Day Four of first Test which is being played under lights with pink ball. Having taken a 222-run lead in the first innings, Pakistan were dismissed for 123 in 31.5 overs, losing their last six wickets for 11 runs. Chasing 346, West Indies are currently 95 for 2 at stumps with senior batsmen Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo at the crease. Bishoo’s spell has opened the contest in the match with all three results possible on the cards. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs West Indies, 1st Test at Dubai
According to CricInfo, Arthur praised Bishoo but rued that Pakistan’s collapse had given West Indies a chance to win the game. He said Pakistan’s plan was to get to a score of around 180 in 45 overs and shut West Indies out of the match. ALSO READ: PAK vs WI: Arthur wants hosts to break into top 4 in ODI rankings
“I am not going to take anything away from the way Bishoo bowled because he bowled really, really well. I thought we gave him eight soft wickets. We were cutting against the spin, some lazy shots. That is something we have spoken hard about because that’s not how we play the game. We worked so hard to get ourselves in front of the game and then in one session we lost 6 for 11 and that gave West Indies a sniff. We want to be better than that. We want to be a team that closes the opposition out when we get the opportunity and we didn’t”, capitalised Arthur.
“The message was very simple: we wanted a score of 180 in 45-50 overs. We felt that would have given us 25-30 overs tonight and a full day tomorrow. So we were looking at 180 in probably 45 overs at the most and we played poorly”, added the former Australia and South Africa coach. ALSO READ: Arthur visualises Tendulkar in Shafiq
Bishoo, whose returns of 8 for 49 were the best by a visiting bowler in subcontinent, said he had reflected on his performance in the first innings – 2 for 125 in 35 overs – and decided to bowl straighter, targeting the stumps, in the second innings.
“Last evening I spent some time thinking about how I had bowled in the first innings and I was bowling most likely fourth-fifth stump and they were cutting the ball down to cover for a single all the time. I tried to bowl straighter on the stumps. I expected the ball to spin more on the fourth and the fifth days, and that’s exactly what happened. I used the rough a little and I tried to use the crease a bit more and tried to bowl more on the stumps”, added the 30-year-old.
Arthur said the batting implosion had forced Pakistan to play slightly defensively when West Indies came out to chase on the fourth evening. He said the team was working towards eradicating issues, like the sudden collapse, from their game.
“We’ve batted really well, certainly through the Test matches in England I thought we were excellent, and we were brilliant in the first innings here. So that is something we are trying to eradicate. We want to get this completely out of our game. Consistency is something we need to keep working on, we are talking long and hard about it”, concluded Arthur.
