2nd Test: Pakistan v West Indies at Sharjah, 7-11 Feb 2002 CricInfo Live Report

2nd Test: Pakistan v West Indies at Sharjah, 7-11 Feb 2002
Samanth Subramanian & Anand Vasu

Pakistan 1st innings: Lunch - Day 2, End of Innings,
West Indies, 2001/02, 2nd Test 1st innings: Tea - Day Two, Stumps - Day Three,
Live Reports from previous days

PAKISTAN SPINNERS REGAIN INITIATIVE
West Indies batsmen continued to play in a positive fashion but the loss of four vital wickets would have hit them hard. When stumps were drawn, they were 164 for four in reply to Pakistan’s formidable 472.

The session began on a positive note for the West Indies. Darren Ganga, who looked impressive in the brief session before tea, continued to indulge himself, bringing his fifty with a lofted four to the mid-wicket fence. His second fifty in 15 Tests came off just 56 balls.

A short while later, he had a lucky escape after taking off for a possibly suicidal second run. Replays proved inconclusive but the umpire ruled in favour of the batsman. The West Indies joy though was short-lived. Wavell Hinds on 25, shuffled too far across his stumps to be bowled around his legs by off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.

Saqlain, who was the pick of the Pakistani spinners on the day, also troubled new man Carl Hooper. The West Indies skipper was beaten on at least a couple of occasions by the Saqlain drifter but first slip Younis Khan failed to hold on to the resultant edges.

Ganga, in between, was castled by a faster ball from Afridi after he had made 65. It was yet another occasion when the opener had failed to build on a bright start.

Hooper, the beautiful batsman that he is, did not let either the edges or the Ganga dismissal bother him too much, unleashing many a serene shot. Chanderpaul, who joined him, for his part, played a few forceful pulls to the boundary off the spinners.

West Indies wanted the duo to thrive but their hopes were scuttled by an umpiring error from Darrell Hair. He ruled Chanderpaul caught at silly point off Kaneria when the latter was on 16. It was a major blow for the West Indies. Hooper, batting on 40, and nightwatchman Mervyn Dillon, who played out 18 balls without making any runs, ensured that West Indies did not suffer any more jolts.

WEST INDIES MAKE A POSITIVE START
West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Darren Ganga set off in hot pursuit of the mammoth Pakistani first-innings score of 472. As many as 19 runs were scored in the first three overs - 11 coming off express pacer Shoaib Akthar’s first over. But Akhtar had his revenge in the next over which saw him at his fiery best.

Gayle tried to pull a short delivery but the ball was too close to his body, the resultant inner edge dooming him. New man Hinds, thrown in at the deep end straight away, was lucky not to get a faint tickle soon after on a delivery that left him after pitching on the off.

Ganga, meanwhile, had settled in nicely and he stroked a few neat drives off Waqar and Akhtar to the boundary. This forced Waqar to ring in an early and surprising change, he replaced himself with leg-spinner Danish Kaneria. But though Kaneria bowled two economical overs, Pakistan could not staunch the flow of runs.

An increasingly assured Hinds cracked a couple of boundaries as West Indies reached 54 for one in the nine overs before tea. Hinds was batting on 14 while Ganga was looking good on 31.

CUFFY, RAMNARINE MOP PAKISTAN TAIL
It was a transformed Abdur Razzaq who played the first over of the post-lunch session. Cameron Cuffy, beginning the proceedings, bowled short and Razzaq was quick to capitalise, striking two cracking boundaries off consecutive balls. There was though no opening of the sluice-gates for Pakistan as wickets began to tumble in a tizzy soon after.

Cuffy, in his next over, bowled a fuller line and was rewarded with the wicket of Saqlain Mushtaq, whom he comprehensively bowled. Pakistani skipper Waqar Younis, who replaced Mushtaq, might have seen Razzaq post his fifty but he was not destined for any milestones with the bat. He was on two, and a long way forward, when umpire Shakeel Khan ruled him leg-before-the-wicket to leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine. Next man Shoaib Akthar followed soon after, snared by a slower delivery from Cameron Cuffy.

Razzaq played a few blistering shots in between to motor on to 64. The dismissal of last man Danish Kaneria, after he edged Cuffy to the waiting hands of Chris Gayle in first clip, though meant that he was stranded on that score.

Cuffy had claimed four wickets for the first time in his Test career and played a major role in restricting Pakistan, who were 344 for three at the end of the first day, to 472. Ramnarine and Dillon, who claimed three and two wickets respectively, were the other successful bowlers for the West Indies.

DILLON, RAMNARINE LEAD WEST INDIES FIGHTBACK
The first few overs of the second day at Sharjah looked to be no different from many on the first day, with the Pakistani batsmen beginning as if there had been no break from the run-riot of yesterday.

Twenty runs came off 4.4 overs, but Mervyn Dillon, by far the best West Indian bowler on view, got one delivery to nip back sharply to take Yousuf Youhana's (60 off 84 balls) inside edge and crash into off-stump. Given the form that Youhana is in, and his penchant of late to convert starts into big scores, that ball from Dillon's was worth much to the beleaguered West Indies.

Abdur Razzaq's arrival to the crease, oddly enough, effected a sea change. The first nine overs of the partnership saw the pair add only 14 runs, a handicapped snail's crawl in contrast to the Youhana-Younis Khan blitz.

It was ironic that, on a holiday that saw spectators fill up the stands for once in significant numbers, the batting slowed down painfully, whereas yesterday's histrionics were witnessed by few eyes.

Something, in such doldrums, was bound to give, and it was Younis Khan who became the fall guy. Pulling a short ball from Pedro Collins in a lacklustre fashion, Younis Khan top-edged to Darren Ganga at mid-off, a tame end to a well-compiled 153 off 291 balls.

Rashid Latif, who arrived next, also followed after an all-too-brief stay at the wicket. He was on 16 when he tried to hit leggie Dinanath Ramnarine against the spin, only for West Indies skipper Carl Hooper at mid-wicket to pouch an easy catch.

Saqlain Mushtaq then joined Razzaq to ensure that Pakistan saw off the five remaining overs without losing any more wickets. At the end of the session, Pakistan had reached 432 for six with Razzaq, batting on a patient 33, and Saqlain on 3.

The West Indies bowlers, particularly Dillon and Ramnarine, would have a lot to cheer about as they trot back to enjoy an extended one-hour lunch break. Their disciplined efforts have seen Pakistan add only 88 runs for the loss of three wickets in the 34 overs bowled in the morning.