PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad- On what would have been the 90th birthday of arguably cricket’s greatest player, Sir Garfield Sobers, the West Indies produced a memorable performance as Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves combined for sensational fast-bowling spells to secure a crushing 90-run victory over Pakistan inside four days in the inaugural test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.
The result handed the hosts a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
Captain Roston Chase dedicated the victory to the Barbadian National Hero and the Caribbean’s cricketing treasure, who was laid to rest on Wednesday, July 29.
“It is a great feeling to win this test, and we want to dedicate it to the late great Sir Garfield Sobers. We wanted to make him proud and had a chat about it before the match. I hope he is smiling down on us.”
Seales claimed his fourth career five-wicket haul and his first on home soil as the West Indies successfully defended a target of 211 to remain unbeaten in test cricket at home this year.
The 24-year-old, who now has 108 Test wickets, sits second only to Wes Hall for the most Test wickets by a West Indies bowler before the age of 25.
Seales ripped through Pakistan’s batting line-up, reducing the visitors to 64 for seven to all but seal the result.
He fittingly finished off the contest by trapping Mohammad Abbas for 23 to dismiss the Pakistanis for 120, their seventh lowest score against the West Indies and ensured that all 40 wickets were taken by fast bowlers in the Caribbean, the first time in the region and the sixth time in test history.
Seales ended with figures of 5 for 20 and joined Justin Greaves who was the first player to bag a five-wicket haul at the venue following a record-breaking spell which tilted the balance of the encounter.
The medium pacer transformed the contest for the West Indies by triggering a collapse which saw the visitors slump from 244 for 3 to 282 all out in response to 311 made by the home team.
Greaves, who walked away with the player of the match award bowled five consecutive wicket maidens in the first innings, a feat achieved for the first time in the game’s longest format to end with marvellous figures of 5 for 27.
The allrounder who captured consecutive player of the match awards, pointed out that his contributions were more meaningly from a team perspective than personal gains.
“This performance is right up there,” Greaves said. “Whatever it takes to get the team over the line, I always put my best foot forward. We won the first-ever Test at this stadium so it is really good for us.”
Greaves shared that the plans for the bowling group were made simple from observations throughout the test.
“It was just about being disciplined. We spoke in the dressing room about starting the innings better. We came in and tried to be as disciplined as possible. I mimicked Mohammad Abbas’ fuller lengths when he bowled against us in the first and second innings and it pretty much worked out for us.”
Chase echoed Greaves views that the performances meant more because they contributed to the team’s success.
“I love how this team is going. It is not dependent on one or two guys, but everyone is chipping in. We were hoping to add at least 50 runs more to the total when we started the day today and Shamar Joseph and the bowlers applied themselves with the bat which gave us the confidence.”
The West Indies will look to extend their unbeaten home Test run this summer when the second Test gets underway on Sunday at the historic Queen’s Park Oval.
The venue has hosted six previous Test matches between the West Indies and Pakistan, with the hosts winning three, Pakistan claiming two victories, and the other ending in a draw in 1988.
The last Test between the two sides at Queen’s Park Oval came in 1993, when the West Indies secured a commanding 204-run victory.
The historic ground has also been a fortress for the Caribbean side in recent years, with the West Indies unbeaten in their last six Tests at the venue.
Led by Roston Chase, the West Indies are chasing consecutive Test series victories for the first time since 2022. They are also seeking their first home Test series win over Pakistan since 2000.
