Tea Pakistan 86 for 4 (Shakeel 33*, Rizwan 18*, Seales 3-19) against West Indies
After the start was delayed by four hours due to thick fog shrouding the ground, Pakistan won the toss and batted first in foggy conditions, with floodlights on throughout the match. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie bowled the first ball, an indication of how both teams perceive the pitch, on which each played three specialist spinners.
Motie got rid of Pakistan captain Shan Masood early on, pressing him against new wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach on the leg side. But for the rest of the hour, it was Seales’ show. He had been sniffing from the start and got his reward when Hurraira hung his bat and took the away lead. This was followed by a beauty to remove Ghulam, who had just sent an attacker to the boundary.
After the delivery after the four, Ghulam shouldered his arms, but the ball came back to him viciously, hitting the thigh, with HawkEye showing he would have clipped the top. The big fish arrived shortly after, another glorious use of sewing. Seales hit a strong length which Babar looked to parry towards offside. But it buckled just enough to hug the outer edge all the way to Imlach. Babar revised, but, like Ghulam, he did not receive a reprieve.
The innings was threatening to collapse at this point, but Shakeel, experienced on surfaces like these, restored some order to proceedings for Pakistan. The sting was removed from the quicks and the spinners were negotiated deftly. Rizwan, at the other end, maintained his concentration level as West Indies continued to prowl.
There was still plenty for the visitors to be excited about, but neither batter offered any chance while stringing together runs, dragging Pakistan into a slightly less perilous position than the one they found themselves in after the first hour.
