Pakistan vs West Indies, day-night: Richard Illingworth 1st umpire to officiate two pink-ball matches
PAK vs WI, day-night: Richard Illingworth 1st umpire to officiate two pink-ball matches
Richard Illingworth, the English former cricketer who is currently also an international cricket umpire has now become the first umpire ever to officiate two day-night Test matches. He attained this record as he took to his position in the first of the three-match series between Pakistan and West Indies at UAE. The first of the three matches is day-night Test match which is being played with the pink-ball at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Illingworth’s first day-night Test was in back in November 2015 in Adelaide, when Australia and New Zealand played the first day-night Test match ever, which Australia had won by three wickets. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs West Indies, 1st Test match
In what can be the crunch of a series between hosts Pakistan and West Indies, the hosts would be aiming for a straight seventh win against the victory less West Indies. The visitors have not won a single match since the time they have landed in UAE as they suffered humiliating whitewash against Pakistan in One-Day International (ODI) series and twenty20 International (T20I) by a margin of 0-3 each. So this Test series has come up as a redemption for the visitors as they have seemed far away from victory and also because they were completely outplayed by Pakistan. READ: Pakistan vs West Indies, day-night Test: West Indies’ Likely XI
On the other hand, Pakistan have a big record to maintain as they haven’t lost a single match in UAE and going by the way this West Indies tour has panned out so far, Pakistan look on the right track to maintaining the record and carry it on further. The hosts won’t have the services of Younus Khan who has been diagnosed with dengue. So Babar Azam has come into Younus’s place as he played excellently in the ODI series scoring back-to-back three ODI centuries, while Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm spinner is also making his debut in this day-night Test which is also an iconic Test for Pakistan as this is their 400th Test match.