Tea West Indies 337 and 23 for 0 (Johnson 12*, Brathwaite 10*) need 130 runs to beat Pakistan 281 and 208 (Azhar 91, Sarfraz 42, Holder 5-30)
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pakistan collapsed in tragicomic fashion after lunch on day four, losing their last five wickets for 33 runs, including 3 for 4 in the space of 18 balls, to be bowled out for 208 and leave West Indies with a target of 153. They then dropped Leon Johnson twice to allow West Indies’ openers put on an unbroken stand of 23 by tea.
Jason Holder took the last two wickets of Pakistan’s innings to claim his first five-wicket haul in Tests and put his team within sight of their first Test win under his captaincy.
The slide began in the seventh over after lunch, when legspinner Devendra Bishoo had Mohammad Nawaz caught at short leg. He landed the ball on a good length in the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump and extracted just enough turn to pick up an inside edge to Johnson, who stuck out his left hand to take a sharp catch.
Bishoo’s next wicket came four overs later, when Azhar Ali, batting on 91, gifted his wicket away. Seeing a liberally flighted delivery, Azhar started shaping for a sweep, before realising the ball was too far outside off for the shot. Instead of leaving the ball alone, Azhar then offered a limp drive and only succeeded in guiding it to Darren Bravo at first slip.
Thirteen balls later, Mohammad Amir perished to one of the most entertaining run-outs conceivable to leave Pakistan in even greater trouble. Wickets were now falling at increasingly short intervals; the next one came after four balls when Wahab Riaz turned a Holder delivery to Johnson at short leg, who took a remarkable reflex catch off the face of the bat.
Zulfiqar Babar then chipped in with a six and a four in a seven-ball 15 that took Pakistan past 200 and their lead past 150. But Holder trapped Yasir Shah in front for a duck to conclude a breathless passage of play and collect figures of 5 for 30.
Having left the door wide open for West Indies, Pakistan then proceeded to give them encouraging nudges towards the threshold. On the fifth ball of West Indies’ chase, Amir got a length ball on off to find the edge of Johnson’s bat, only for Misbah-ul-Haq to put down a regulation chance at third slip. Amir’s frustration was compounded in his next over, when Sami Aslam, at first slip, made a total hash of a chance off the same batsman. By that stage, it seemed that Pakistan would simply not allow West Indies to lose the match.
Things had looked rather different during a first session that was sedate by comparison. Sarfraz Ahmed and Azhar had begun with positive intent, running fast between the wickets and punishing the bowlers when they erred in line or length. Sarfraz was particularly strong on the cut and the square drive, while Azhar brought out some of his trademark silken drives.
Sarfraz departed to a loose shot off Bishoo, against the run of play, but Azhar and Nawaz managed to extend the lead to 103, with five wickets still in hand, by lunch. A position that had been modestly promising for Pakistan rapidly became far more precarious during a manic second session they would do well to forget.
