Opener Kraigg Brathwaite held the West Indies innings together with a controlled 95 to leave the third Test in Sharjah finely poised.
Brathwaite was rarely troubled on a slow Sharjah pitch and inched his way towards three figures to cap another commendable day in the field for the visitors, who reached 244 for six and are within touching distance of Pakistan’s first innings total of 281.
It was a day of classic, attritional cricket where neither side made any substantial gains. West Indies didn’t waste much time in the morning session, picking up the final two Pakistan wickets for the addition of 26 runs.
The West Indies innings, just like that of their opponents, got off a poor start as left-handed batsman Leon Johnson was beaten for pace and caught in front of the stumps by Wahab Riaz in the fourth over.
The first session was drawing to a close and Pakistan needed a piece of magic to spark some life into the match that hadn’t gone as planned.
Mohammad Amir provided it in the 12th over, running back to a top edge from Darren Bravo off Zulfiqar Babar and diving full length to complete the catch. The left-arm pacer is unlikely to forget his first catch at the Test level, which came in his 20th Test.
When Yasir Shah trapped Marlon Samuels lbw for a 10-ball duck right before tea, Pakistan had taken control of the match.
But if Pakistan thought they would wrap things up quickly, they were mistaken. The visitors showed greater application in the afternoon session with Brathwaite holding his end up well. Jermaine Blackwood looked good during his run-a-ball 23 before flashing at a wide delivery from Amir to be snapped up at gully.
That was the only wicket the Windies lost in the middle session as Brathwaite and Chase played risk free cricket to keep the Pakistan bowlers at bay. Their approach was in stark contrast to that employed by Pakistan on Sunday when their top order batsmen played unconventional strokes and got out after reaching fifties.
Chase in particular worked the spinners efficiently, his on-drive against left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz in the 45th over the pick of the lot. His partnership with Brathwaite was approaching triple digits when Amir ended his innings after tea.
Having reached his fifty with a six off Shah against the turn, Chase chased a wide one from Amir and edged to second slip where Younis Khan showed that his reflexes were sharp as ever.
It was a much needed breakthrough for Pakistan.
Brathwaite then found another assertive partner in wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, who struck 47 off 90 balls to take the pressure of scoring off Brathwaite.
Dowrich offered a couple of tough chances, first after while attempting a sweep off part-timer Azhar Ali that ballooned to slip where Younis failed to grab it in three attempts. And the second one the next over – the 66th – by Babar where a lofted drive just missed a leaping Shah.
As the day drew to a close, Dowrich opened his shoulders and hit two sublime boundaries off Amir – a drive and a flick to fine leg. However, an inside edge off Wahab brought an end to his sparkling innings and gave Pakistan some breathing space right at the end.
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