Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Day 3 lunch: Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali make sleepy progress

PAK vs WI, 2nd Test, Day 3 lunch: Misbah, Azhar make sleepy progress

Azhar Ali (94*) and Misbah-ul-Haq (40*) helped Pakistan crawl to 226 for 3 against West Indies at the end of lunch on Day Three of the second Test at Barbados. Azhar and Misbah managed to score just 54 runs in 26 overs bowled in the morning session. Pakistan are still trailing the West Indies total of 312 by 86 runs with 7 wickets intact. For West Indies, despite Jason Holder making various changes in the bowling combination, none of his bowlers were successful in breaking the partnership which has now gone up to 65 runs from 212 deliveries. Having scored some runs on the board without losing any wicket in the first session, Pakistan are now clearly the dominating side in this game with more than two days still left. Full Cricket Scorecard, Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test at Barbados

Resuming from the score of 172 for 3, Pakistan started on the cautious note with which they had attained after batted out the entire Day Two. Having played the initial overs comfortably with the old ball, things were expected to spice up a bit as Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph were recalled to bowl with the new ball. But having settled down, Azhar and Misbah looked comfortable playing against the West Indies pacers despite the ball swinging either way. The pacers are still getting good help from the wicket but being in the ultra-defensive mode, the swinging conditions did not deter the Pakistan pair.

There were some nervous chances for West Indies as the ball missed the edges many times but nothing more productive came off it. Seeing the pacers yielding no wickets, Holder tried deploying spin from both ends with Devendra Bishoo and Roston Chase. But this move too was mellowed down by the batsmen as they looked far more comfortable in defending the ball and driving it through covers once in a while.

Azhar, who resumed batting from the overnight score of 81, has managed to add just 13 runs playing 63 deliveries and is looking all set to score his 13th Test century but on the other hand, Misbah was more at ease and has added 37 runs to his overnight score.

With two more sessions left in the day along with 2 days of play, Pakistan being defensive have made their move towards victory by putting off the Caribbean side with defensive tactics.

Brief scores:

West Indies 312 (Roston Chase 131, Jason Holder 58; Mohammad Abbas 4 for 56, Mohammad Aamer 3 for 65) lead Pakistan for 226 for 3 (Azhar Ali 94*, Misbah-ul-Haq 40*; Devendra Bishoo 2 for 53, Shannon Gabriel 1 for 45) by 140 runs.

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