Amir collects five on rain-restricted day

Pakistan pace sensation Mohammad Amir completed a five-wicket haul and West Indies captain Jason Holder reached a fifth half-century as the home side reached 9-278 on a rain-ruined second day of the first Test at Sabina Park.

Only 11.3 overs were bowled in the entire day as inadequate covering from heavy overnight and early morning rain left damp patches on the pitch and a sodden area of the outfield, delaying the start of play by four hours.

By the time the showers returned in late afternoon with even greater ferocity, just 55 minutes play was possible during which Amir and Holder shone through the gathering gloom.

After the home skipper and Devendra Bishoo extended their eighth-wicket partnership to 75 against the second new ball, Amir had Bishoo caught for 28.

The left-armer then bowled Alzarri Joseph without scoring to achieve his first five-wicket haul since returning to international cricket last year following a five-year ban for spot-fixing.

Most impressive in the prodigious quick's effort was his accuracy as reflected in figures of 5-41 off 24.3 overs before the showers swept across the ground and drove the players off the field for the last time for the day.

Holder’s defiance was also admirable, the captain reaching the half-century mark by hoisting debutant Mohammed Abbas for a straight six. 

He'll resume alongside last man Shannon Gabriel on the third day, weather permitting, on 55 off 69 balls with two sixes and seven fours embellishing his defiant innings.

DAY ONE REPORT

Half-centuries by Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich engineered a West Indies revival in reaching 7-244 at stumps against Pakistan on the opening day of the first Test at Sabina Park on Friday.

Coming together immediately after lunch when opener Kieran Powell, recalled after spending three years out of the sport pursuing a baseball career, became Mohammad Amir’s third wicket with the innings in tatters at 5-71, Chase batted with confidence and fluency for to top score with 63. 

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His sixth-wicket partnership with Dowrich was worth 118 runs, the wicketkeeper-batsman enhancing his reputation with a polished 56, the pair making a mockery of the West Indies’ earlier struggles after they were put in to bat.

On the same ground where an unbeaten hundred in just his second Test match saved the West Indies from defeat against India a year earlier, Chase looked at ease against all bowlers although his penchant for the uncontrolled hook resulted in a couple of narrow escapes.

Yet it was Yasir Shah who removed both him and Dowrich off successive deliveries in the final session.

Made to look ordinary by the pair’s positive play through the afternoon, the leg-spinner had the last laugh when he lured Chase into a lofted stroke and Wahab Riaz held an outstanding catch running back from mid-off almost to the boundary rope.

Image Id: FD109915D23C4EBE90B8094E0034B53B Image Caption: Wahab sprawls to cling on to a superb diving catch // Getty

Dowrich was then completely deceived and bowled by the next delivery. 

At 7-189, Pakistan’s hopes of dismissing the West Indies on the opening day were revived, only for captain Jason Holder (30 not out) and specialist spinner Devendra Bishoo (23 not out) to frustrate the visitors with an enterprising unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 55.

Earlier, Mohammad Abbas had a dream start to his Test career, having Kraigg Brathwaite caught at second slip by Younis Khan without scoring with his second delivery sharing the new ball with Amir.

It was an important early breakthrough as the opener had made history in their last Test match meeting with unbeaten scores of 142 and 60 that earned the Caribbean side a five-wicket win in Sharjah last November at the end of an otherwise miserable tour of the United Arab Emirates.

Image Id: 50422E2E36BD439F9809AD0FC1B39DC0 Image Caption: Abbas celebrates a wicket off his second ball in Test cricket // Getty

West Indies played two debutants in the middle-order in the pair of Guyanese left-handers Shimron Hetmyer and Vishaul Singh, and Pakistan pressed the advantage even further with Amiir claiming his first wickets in three Test matches.

Maintaining a nagging accuracy, the left-arm fast bowler bowled both Hetmyer and Shai Hope, scattering the stumps with deliveries that jagged in sharply off a good length. 

Pakistan’s third seamer in their bowling armoury, Wahab, then removed Singh via a fine diving catch by Azhar Ali at backward square-leg to have the home side tottering at that point at 53 for four.

West Indies opted to omit Jermaine Blackwood from their final XI to accommodate the debutants in the batting line-up, meaning there was no Jamaican in the home side for a Test match at Sabina Park for the first time since 1997 when, incidentally, the opponents were also Pakistan.

Notwithstanding his impressive entry to senior international cricket during the limited-over leg of the tour, the visitors resisted the temptation to include the uncapped Shadab Khan in their team as a second spinner in support of Yasir, choosing instead to introduce 27-year-old Abbas to Test cricket.

This is the 50th Test between the two nations and also the 50th Test match to be played at Sabina Park since the very first at the venue in 1930.