IN PICS: Windies late collapse undermines day of fight

Barnaby Read 17:59 22/10/2016
West Indies once again showed fight.

Calamitous West Indian batting in the final session of the day ruined an otherwise admirable day of fighting on day two of the second Test in Abu Dhabi.

West Indies closed the day on 106-4 after losing the key wickets of Darren Bravo [43], Marlon Samuels [30] and Kraigg Brathwaite [21] in the closing stages, leaving their team still 346 runs shy of Pakistan’s first innings effort of 452 all-out.

Brathwaite’s dismissal was the most embarrassing, as he ambled down the track for a single that nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo belatedly tuned down and his team-mate was run-out by a distance.

The opener batted at three after pitiful game management at the death of Pakistan’s innings.

He was tapped on the shoulder before walking out to open and informed he’d not been back on the pitch long enough to be able to come out and bat after going off the field with Pakistan nine wickets down.

Earlier in the day there were far more positives for West Indies as the hosts lost their final six wickets for 120 runs as Gabriel superbly instigated West Indies’ damage limitation efforts after the brilliance of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq on day one.

Gabriel picked up his first five-wicket haul in Tests in a much improved display on his efforts in the first Test.

In that match, Gabriel picked up just the one second innings wicket, his Test match defined by the internal fines he was accumulating for bowling 11 no-balls. His run-up seemed a constant issue, Garbriel at times in the first innings over stepping by huge margins and then pulling up at the crease on a number of occasions in the second go at Pakistan.

In Pakistan’s first innings in Abu Dhabi he still bowled nine no-balls, but hopefully he will have a performance incentive that outweighs his growing fine list.

Gabriel line was far more disciplined than his front foot and, crucially, he bowled with far more potency and took on the role of West Indies’ spearhead. There was more pace, bounce, reverse swing and a persistent line that meant he remained a threat despite the placid nature of the wicket.

The Trinidadian ended with 5-96 and helped wrap up Pakistan’s innings, taking the crucial wickets of Misbah-ul-Haq [96] and Sarfraz Ahmed [56].

Misbah will have been disappointed not to have registered an 11th Test century after only adding six to his overnight score, while Sarfraz’s 59-ball effort injected tempo into the innings and ensured Pakistan posted a substantial first innings total.

Bravo was bumped up to open alongside Leon Johnson, the pair safely negotiating the final 11 overs of the afternoon session as the slowness of the track continued to make life comfortable for batsman.

But Johnson lasted only three overs after tea, trapped lbw by Rahat Ali, who began to move the ball both ways with reverse swing.

Having struck 87 and 116 in the first and second innings of the first Test, Bravo picked up where he left off, safely negating both Pakistan’s spinners and seamers, while cashing in whenever a bowler over pitched by whacking it to the boundary through the V.

It all looked too easy for Bravo but by veering away from the straight bat that has brought him such success on this tour already, he departed after playing across the line to Yasir Shah and being struck on the pads in front of middle stump.

At first glance, Bravo’s dismissal didn’t look too costly, until the dramatic collapse at the close that saw Pakistan swing the game firmly back in their favour and licking their lips at taking on two new batsmen yet to be off the mark first thing Sunday morning.

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