Mohsin Khan has expressed concern over finding ideal replacements for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif if they were not cleared by the ICC ahead of the series against South Africa in UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2010Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, is concerned about finding replacements for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, the trio suspended by the ICC in the spot-fixing scandal, for a tough, upcoming series against South Africa.The three players were served notices on September 2 after the ICC felt they had “a case to answer”, and were initially given two weeks to respond, though this has been extended on the players’ request. Of the three, only Salman Butt has filed a formal appeal, while the other two have until October 15 to do the same.The series of two Twenty20s, five ODIs and two Tests will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and kicks off on October 26; Pakistan are scheduled to leave on October 23. It is highly unlikely any of the trio will be cleared – if at all – in time to take part in the series. In any case, Asif would not have played at all, as he is barred from entering the UAE after he was detained at Dubai airport in June 2008 for being in possession of a banned substance.Butt’s suspension leaves Pakistan without a Test captain as well and contemplating the prospect of appointing a fourth different captain for Tests this year. “They are three of our key players, and will be in the squad if cleared to play,” Mohsin said. “It will be really tough for us to find their replacement in case they are not available to play against South Africa.”We are waiting for the chairman [of the PCB, Ijaz Butt] to return from England,” Mohsin said. “He is expected to return later this week after which we will sit down and finalise the team.”The absences mean that former captain Shoaib Malik, who was dropped for the ODIs against England after a poor show in the Tests, can realistically harbour hopes of another return. “I know my form was not very good in the Test matches but I will be back to playing domestic cricket and I am sure I can convince the selectors to give me another chance against South Africa,” Malik said.With the World Cup around the corner, Malik said Pakistan had to identify a core group for the showpiece event. “I think the time has come for the selectors to decide on a nucleus of say 18 to 20 players who can play in the World Cup. We don’t have much time now to experiment, we need to start forming the World Cup combination.”

Khurram Manzoor scored a match-saving unbeaten hundred as the first unofficial Test between Pakistan A and West Indies A at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent ended in a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2010West Indies A 305 for 3 decl (Brathwaite 130, Edwards 94, Babar 3-122) drew with Pakistan A 156 for 1 (Manzoor 100*, Brown 1-57)
ScorecardKhurram Manzoor scored an unbeaten hundred as the first unofficial Test between Pakistan A and West Indies A at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent ended in a draw. In a match badly affected by rain, West Indies made 305 for 3 declared in their first innings. Pakistan responded strongly, reaching 156 for 1 by close of play on the final day.After the third day’s play was washed out due to rain, West Indies, who were on 216 for 1, began the final day positively. Kraigg Brathwaite was dismissed for 130, but Kirk Edwards was solid before he was out for 94. His dismissal prompted West Indies’ declaration 20 minutes after the lunch break. Zulfiqar Babar picked up all the three wickets to fall.Pakistan began strongly with the openers, Manzoor and Umair Khan, putting on 51. Khan was out lbw to Odean Brown but Manzoor and Umar Amin kept the West Indies bowlers at bay. While Amin dropped anchor, making a sedate 27 in 107 minutes, Manzoor did the bulk of the scoring, reaching his century off 154 balls, with eight fours and two sixes before stumps were drawn.The second unofficial Test begins on November 24 at the same venue, but the weather forecast suggests that rain could play spoilsport again.

Hashim Amla has been instructed to rest his injured left forearm for a second week by Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) medical committee

Firdose Moonda02-Dec-2010Hashim Amla has been instructed to rest his injured left forearm for a second week by Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) medical committee. He has been ruled out of the MTN40 second-leg semi-final between the Dolphins and Knights on Friday after he took a blow to his arm on the last day of the second test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi eight days ago.”The contusion is serious enough to keep him out of the game tomorrow (Friday). Normally it takes five to seven days to respond to treatement. If it takes longer, we need to re-evaluate. By tomorrow we will know what stage it he is at,” South African team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee told ESPNcricinfo.Amla was hit on his left forearm by a Misbah-ul-Haq pull shot. He was fielding at short leg and tried to take evasive action but was struck. Amla received treatment on the field and took no further part in the match. At the time, he was treated with icing, compression and elevation. “Because of the speed at which the ball was hit, it caused internal bleeding in the tissues,” Moosajee explained.Amla was originally ruled out for a week and was due to sit out of the Dolphins first-leg semi-final. He has not made a full recovery and “is not able to hit drives off either the front or back foot without experiencing some degree of discomfort”, according to a CSA statement.The administrators are confident that Amla will be fit for the series against India in exactly two weeks time. “He, however, remains on target to be fit for the first Test against India starting at SuperSport Park on December 16. There is also a good chance that he will be able to play for the Dolphins next Friday if the franchise reaches the final of the MTN40 competition,” the statement said.A 12-man squad for the Test series against India is due to be announced during the semi-final on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh have handed over the initiative to Karnataka with generosity that is in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season

Nitin Sundar25-Dec-2010Karnataka hold the aces in their quarter-final clash against Madhya Pradesh. It would, however, be more appropriate to say that the hosts have handed over the initiative with generosity that is in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season. Despite MP’s well-documented resurgence, this fixture was always expected to be a mismatch. Ironically for MP, it has so far proved to be a complete reversal from their Plate League days when a weak bowling attack often left their batsmen with too much to do. In Indore, it was the batsmen who let the team down on the first day; the bowlers put in a big effort on the second, but fielding lapses allowed Karnataka to move ahead, despite being well short of their best.Sanath Kumar, the Karnataka coach, minced no words when asked to describe his side’s effort on the second day, when five batsmen perished for scores between 29 and 49. “Absolutely bad batting,” was his succinct summation. “We could have easily been 320 for 4. Instead we find ourselves at 306 for 8, since our batsmen kept throwing away their starts. The last five overs [when Jalaj Saxena picked up three cheap wickets] were pathetic.”It seemed like a harsh evaluation. After all, his side had pushed the lead to three figures, with two wickets in hand, on a pitch where the bowlers had skittled MP out for 200 on the opening day. “The batsmen were finding it difficult since the ball was not coming on to the bat,” he conceded. “But that can be no excuse.”Of the lot, only Amit Verma managed to push ahead after getting used to the slow conditions. His stroke-filled 85 was the cornerstone of Karnataka’s lead, but it was an innings that underlined the kind of season he has had. He is currently fifth in the run-charts, with six half-centuries – the highest by any batsmen in the tournament – and just one ton. While players like S Badrinath and Wasim Jaffer have ensured their fifties yielded big hundreds, Verma has succumbed to carelessness too often. Sanath was left wondering how much more he could have accomplished with better application.”Amit is not getting the big runs,” Sanath said. “Too many 70s and 80s before throwing the wicket away. I have been speaking to him about it, and gave him a piece of my mind today as well. He should keep improving and not settle for half-centuries.”Sanath reserved his words of praise for the opposition’s bowlers, who showed tremendous heart all day. “To be honest, they bowled really well, and to their fields,” he said. “If they had held on to their catches, we would have been in a much worse situation.”It was a sentiment shared by Sanath’s opposite number, MP coach Mukesh Sahni. “Our bowlers tried very hard, Jalaj Saxena in particular. It has been a bad couple of days for us, and it has nothing to do with the talent in the side. It is just the mental aspect. (Yesterday, the youngsters played too many shots),” he reflected ruefully. “Once the batting fails, it becomes imperative to hold on to the half-chances, but things went wrong right from the first evening [when Mohnish Mishra dropped Robin Uthappa].”It is, however, crucial to remain positive. We hope to have them chasing a tricky target on the final day. The plan is to get the last two wickets early and then bat positively. There is no need to play too many shots – normal, positive batting will do the trick.”Devendra Bundela, the MP captain, was even more bullish about his side’s chances. “The game is 60-40 right now in their favour,” he said. “We have nothing to lose and we will give it our best. We will look to restrict the lead to around 120 and bat positively tomorrow. The opening partnership will be crucial. I hope to set a target of around 220 and go for the outright win.”His parting shot will leave the Karnataka camp a touch concerned. “It is a knockout game. There will be pressure on the fourth day if you are chasing a target, even if it is not very big,” he said. It is a pressure Karnataka know only too well after their heartbreak in last year’s final. It is a situation they won’t want to find themselves in, against this spirited MP unit that is eager to make amends for its lapses.

ESPNcricinfo previews the fourth ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan in Napier

The Preview by Sriram Veera31-Jan-2011

Match Facts

February 1, Napier

Start time 14:00 (01:00 GMT)
Jesse Ryder returns to the top•Getty Images

Big Picture

Christchurch witnessed a quintessentially Pakistani style of play: start slow, build a base, retain wickets, and explode in the end. It used to be the norm in 1980s before Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail changed that in the 90’s, but once again, without a settled opening pair, Pakistan are returning to the roots. Not many teams can launch into a frenzied and mesmerising attack in the end overs like Pakistan can. Abdul Razzaq swinging like there is no tomorrow, Shahid Afridi swinging like there is no next moment, and the scarred opposition living on the boundary’s edge, waiting for the violence to end. As Luke Woodcock put it: “I’ve seen a bit of it on TV but to actually see it first hand, playing against him [Afridi] for the first time, it was a pretty special knock and he took the momentum away from us.”Mohammad Hafeez hit his maiden hundred in his 61st game, Ahmed Shehzad dazzled briefly in the second ODI, and Umar Akmal showed glimpses of the imperious flair he possesses. But what about Pakistan’s experienced middle order? For long, Younis Khan’s critics have said that he bats in ODIs like he is batting in a Test and vice versa. For long, Misbah-ul-Haq’s critics have said that he bats in all formats like he is batting in a Test. Their supporters will cite Christchurch as evidence of their effectiveness. Let Younis and Misbah play the middle overs, preventing a collapse, and set the base for the marauders to take over. The critics want the same thing but they wonder why the holding job can’t be performed with more purpose? Can’t Younis and Misbah take singles, keep the strike rotating, and score at a decent pace? Their career strike rates are just over 75, which is actually ideal for the job they do, but the criticism, especially against Misbah, is that he only makes up towards the end of his knock. The sedate approach at the start increases pressure on the others and triggers self-destructive ways or so the argument goes. It will be interesting to watch their approach in the next game.Their opposition, New Zealand, are experimenting, searching for the ideal line-up before the World Cup. The biggest puzzle is the position of Brendon McCullum. On the flat-beds of the subcontinent, considering that he is a regular Test opener, would it be better to play him at the top or keep him for later? Martin Guptill has been in great form, and Jesse Ryder is best while opening, so why not plug McCullum lower down to make use of the batting Powerplay? And what about Jamie How, who looks good in most innings but never carries on? He will get one more chance in the next game, this time in the middle order, and he needs to grab it.Tim Southee and Hamish Bennett are the two chosen ones for the fourth ODI. It was slightly strange to see New Zealand make Bennett bowl against the breeze in the last game. Will they give him a chance to go down wind and try and use his pace to unsettle the batsmen? Luke Woodcock, who had a good debut, lost out as Vettori and Nathan McCullum return. The pressure is on Nathan to put in a good performance to keep Woodcock behind in the pecking order.Napier, the venue of the fourth ODI, has been a burial ground for the bowlers and if the pitch remains flat and full of runs, Pakistan hold the edge over New Zealand.

Form guide

New Zealand: LWLLL
Pakistan: WLLWL

Players to watch out for …

Jesse Ryder has a great strike-rate (95.41) in ODIs but he has a better grasp of how to build an innings in Tests. If he can reprise that temperament in ODIs, his transformation into a world-class ODI player would be complete. The back-lift is minimal, the foot work precise, and the shot-selection is maturing rapidly. Ryder can be the backbone of this line-up in the World Cup.Umar Akmal has the shots, but does he have the temperament? There is a thin line between arrogance and confidence and he seems to be forever living on that edge. Pakistan would hope that Umar can fast track the transformation from boy to man and be more consistent.

Team news

Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s coach, said there would only be one change: will the spinner Abdur Rehman get a chance, or will they try to bring in Asad Shafiq or Shoaib Akthar?Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Abdur Rehman/Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Shoaib Akhtar/Wahab Riaz.How and Kane Williamson will both play in the middle order. Bennett and Southee will be the seamers while Vettori and Nathan McCullum are the spinners in the XI.New Zealand (probable): 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor , 4 Scott Styris, 5 Kane Williamson, 6 Jamie How, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish Bennett.

Stats and trivia

• Seven of the last 10 ODIs in Napier have been won by the side batting first.
• Afridi’s five sixes in the third ODI took his tally to 285, the record for most sixes in one-dayers. Sanath Jayasuriya is second with 270. It was also the 16th time that Afridi hit five or more sixes in an innings. Jayasuriya did it 11 times.
• Younis Khan averages only 29.30 from 18 games against New Zealand. In New Zealand, he averages 18 from three games.

Quotes

“Both teams search for consistency, and both teams struggle to get it, so we know we can turn their confidence around pretty quickly and hopefully put it in our favour. I think we need to look at that”
.”If you look at the way we bowled to him [Afridi], we gave him a number of opportunities to clear the ropes. We missed a chance to catch him, you just can’t afford to do that, so the onus goes on the bowlers to hit their lines and lengths … You can accept if they get hit from those areas, but if you are bowling half-volleys and length balls in the Powerplays you are going to be in trouble.”
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A round-up of the semi-finals of the Caribbean T20

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2011Johann Myburgh scored 88 off 58 balls to lead Hampshire to a competitive total against Windward Islands, after which Hamza Riazuddin’s four-wicket spell helped secure a narrow victory, and with it a spot in the Caribbean T20 final. Hampshire had a solid start to their innings, with Jimmy Adams and Myburgh adding 47 in 6 overs before Adams was run out. Myburgh provided the acceleration, striking six sixes during his half-century, while James Vince made 36 off 32 balls. Myburgh, who was eventually bowled by Mervin Matthew with the score on 160, was the only batsman dismissed by a Windward bowler. The other three wickets in the score of 166 for 4 were run out.Windward lost Johnson Charles early but Andre Fletcher and Devon Smith steadied the chase. They didn’t score at breakneck speed but they led Windward to 75 in the 10th over, when Riazuddin struck for the first time, getting Smith caught behind. Keddy Lesporis was run out for 6 but Windward were still in it, at 114 for 3, when the 16th over began. In that over, Riazuddin ripped out three wickets, reducing the innings to 116 for 6, and severely broke Windward’s momentum. Riazuddin finished with 4 for 15, and even though Matthew blasted 27 off 15, Windward fell four runs short.Trinidad & Tobago’s passage to the final was easier as they beat Jamaica by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare in the second semi-final. The result ensured T&T’s qualification to the Champions League later this year by virtue of being the best Caribbean side in the competition.Jamaica’s innings failed to take off as wickets fell regularly and the run-rate struggled to rise over six. The top four batsmen fell for less than 20 and strike-rates of less than 100. Wavell Hinds and Andre Russell provided some stability, scoring 23 and 36, but the tail folded after their departures. T&T legspinner Samuel Badree, who opened the bowling, finished with 1 for 15 in four overs, while Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine picked up two wickets each. T&T needed only 137 to set up a summit clash with Hampshire.The top order did the job, with Adrian Barath making 37 and Lendl Simmons contributing 51. Darren Bravo continued his impressive form, scoring 25 off 19 balls at No. 3, to lead T&T to 140 for 2 in the 18th over. Of the six bowlers Jamaica used, only Jerome Taylor took a wicket.

Brett Lee has said that Australia’s pace attack will not be neutralised during the World Cup by the traditionally slow wickets of the subcontinent

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2011Brett Lee has said that Australia’s pace attack will not be neutralised during the World Cup by the traditionally slow wickets of the subcontinent. Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson are three bowlers in the Australia squad capable of hitting the 145-kmh mark on a regular basis.”I don’t see any problem with the pace that we have and playing on slow wickets,” Lee said. “At the end of the day, the ball is still coming at 150kmh through the air. The pitch is a massive part of the equation. But if you have a bowler like Shaun Tait bowling around 160kmh at the batsman’s toes, it doesn’t matter where you are playing. It is still going to hit the batsmen on the full.”Australia have been talking up the role their fast bowlers will play during the World Cup – Mitchell Johnson had earlier said no-one would be keen on facing Australia’s pace – and Lee echoed that view, saying it was with good reason because Australia’s quicks have previously done well in the subcontinent. In the seven-match series that Australia played in India towards the end of 2009, Shane Watson, Johnson and Doug Bollinger, who are part of Australia’s fifteen for the World Cup, were the top three wicket-takers, and Australia won the series 4-2.Prior to that, in Australia’s victorious campaign in the 2006 Champions Trophy in India, it was Lee along with Watson, Nathan Bracken and Glen McGrath who were the key wicket-takers. “For pace bowling you’ve got to get the ball in the right spot,” Lee said. “The way we bowled in the Champions Trophy, with lots of pace bowlers, we won that event. Playing on slow wickets like in Delhi tends to suit our pace attack.”Australia have picked just one frontline spinner for the World Cup: offspinner Jason Krejza, a bowler who has played just one ODI. Both Nathan Hauritz and Xavier Doherty missed out due to injuries, leaving Australia heavily dependent on their fast bowlers.Lee returned to the Australia team for the recent series against England, which Australia won 6-1, after a 15-month layoff caused by an elbow injury, but he was upbeat ahead of what will be his second World Cup. “It has been a long road back. It’s been 15 months away from the game. A lot of players expected me to get back and play cricket and I am proud that I could survive the adversity to a certain extent.”

The Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani has accepted the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to attend the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final in Mohali on March 30

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2011Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani has accepted the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to attend the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan in Mohali on March 30. Relations between the two countries took a turn for the worse in the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, and the cricket teams of the two countries haven’t played each other on home soil since. Analysts say the Indian prime minister’s latest gesture will help to break the diplomatic deadlock.”It was decided in response to the Indian Prime Minister’s invitation that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit India to witness the semi-final cricket match,” presidential spokesman Faharullah Babar said on Sunday in Islamabad.Cricket has been used as an instrument of diplomacy between India and Pakistan in the past. In 1987, during an India-Pakistan Test in Jaipur, the then president of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq paid a visit to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium and met Rajiv Gandhi, India’s prime minister. Then, in 2004, India toured Pakistan for a full series for the first time in 15 years as the governments of the two countries aimed at improving relations.The build-up to the upcoming semi-final in Mohali has been massive. Tickets were sold out well in advance, hotels within a 25 km radius of the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium have no rooms available and almost 6,500 visas are expected to be issued for fans travelling from Pakistan. India and Pakistan have played each other on four occasions in World Cups, with India winning each time.

Pakistan’s ODI and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi has been held in violation of the PCB’s Code of Conduct over his public comments on Sunday that hinted at differences with coach Waqar Younis

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2011Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s limited overs captain, has landed himself in administrative hot water once again, as the PCB has hauled him up for comments he made on Sunday after returning to Pakistan from the Caribbean.Afridi all but confirmed to reporters that there had been differences between him and the team management over selection issues during the five-match ODI series that Pakistan won 3-2. Though he didn’t take anyone’s name specifically, it was coach Waqar Younis he was referring to, growing differences between the pair now a fact which PCB officials confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Sunday.The board has now taken exception to the statement Afridi made and has served him a notice to explain to the board what he has said. In a statement issued Monday, the PCB said they had “taken notice of the statements made by Mr Shahid Afridi in the media about the differences within the tour management in West Indies.”It is a violation of Code of Conduct on part of Mr Afridi and an explanation has been sought from him for the reasons to make such statements publicly. PCB will take appropriate action after submission of the tour-report at the conclusion of the tour.”The issue of Afridi’s often straight-talking public statements has been an ongoing one since he first took over the captaincy of the Twenty20 side in 2009. Matters came to a head late last year when his ODI captaincy was on the line because a number of players in the side were unhappy with his public criticisms of their performances. Misbah-ul-Haq was a contender to take over until finally, just two weeks before the World Cup, the PCB decided to stick with Afridi, having told him to be careful over what he says in public.In any case, Afridi is due to meet with the board chairman Ijaz Butt at some point in the coming week, about the developments on tour and in particular the problems he had with the coach.Although captain and coach worked well together during the World Cup, tensions between the two have been apparent for some time, in particular over the issue of team selection. Afridi feels, as captain and ultimate responsibility for on-field performances, he should have the final say. Waqar, however, feels a coach should also have an input and it is the degrees of control on each side that has become problematic.It led Afridi to say on Sunday, “Although the differences in team management are not such which could not be solved, I feel everyone should do his job and need not interfere in other’s work.”The slow-developing controversy has also drawn in Mohsin Khan, the chief selector, who last week was on the verge of resigning, because he was unhappy with selections for Pakistan’s Test squad for the West Indies. Khan alluded to differences – though he never specified with whom – in selection. That matter, after a meeting with Butt, was eventually resolved.Pakistan are to play two Tests against West Indies, the first of which begins on May 12.

Ably assisted by the West Indies, Taufeeq Umar worked Pakistan into a formidable position on the third day of the second Test at Basseterre

The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin22-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Taufeeq Umar played some accomplished straight drives on the way to his unbeaten 97•Associated Press

Ably assisted by the West Indies, Taufeeq Umar worked Pakistan into a formidable position on the third day of the second Test at Basseterre. Taufeeq’s unbeaten 97 helped the tourists close on 203 for 3, 251 runs ahead already and well-placed for a series-levelling win.Having fought back through their tail in the morning, West Indies missed numerous chances – dropping Umar twice by the time he was 13 and once on 94 – in a miserable display in the field. They also took a wicket off a no-ball in the very first over of the innings.
The early chances were crucial because until this morning, Taufeeq’s batting all series had a constipated feel to it, itching to break free mentally, yet physically unable. When he edged Kemar Roach in the third over only for Darren Bravo to shell a regulation chance at first slip, something in him twitched: he’d stared death in the face and not blinked. A little freedom crept in, disbelievingly at first as he drove Roach next ball down the ground.In Roach’s next over, he cut and drove him again but immediately after, he looked death in the face a second time, Darren Sammy dropping him at second slip. Unburdened and believing now, Umar tore into the most forceful batting from either side all series. Three boundaries came from Roach’s next over, two drives before he fairly ripped into a cut. Sammy arrived only to be driven through extra cover. Every shot for a while was firmly struck, heavy with intent before a first opening fifty stand was brought up as lunch approached; unsurprisingly it was another straight drive that brought it.Hafeez, the fortunate recipient of the Roach no-ball, was a keen partner, though after lunch the tempo dropped drastically. Taufeeq decided now was the time to cash in. For the rest of the day he was unrecognizable from the morning stud, a dour old man of an innings, of nudges, glides, bunts and sturdy defence.He brought up fifty quietly a little before the day’s halfway mark and hit not a single boundary after lunch until half an hour before the close. Typically, it was a straight drive. Thereafter he roused in a bid to reach a first hundred in nearly eight years before the close, driving Rampaul again before being dropped – athletically – by Lendl Simmons at mid-off. A few balls later he narrowly avoided being run out.But across the afternoon there was relief from Azhar Ali in a pleasant and surprisingly fluent innings. He gave one chance at slip, but looked in little trouble, driving and cutting well in a 76-run stand. More significantly, he rotated strike, which he doesn’t often do. Particularly useful in this endeavour was the paddle sweep he employed regularly against the spinners. Soon after tea he reached an inevitable eighth Test fifty but just when a first, breakthrough hundred looked equally inevitable, he fell, cutting to slip.Both the wicket-taker Devendra Bishoo and the West Indies in general deserved that, for they sharpened up after lunch. Sammy bowled those inswingers Pakistan are unable to comprehend – they come – to which Hafeez fell; another good start wasted. Bishoo controlled the other end in a good, long spell through an equally long afternoon, unlucky not to have Umar stumped and Ali caught earlier. The very real threat of a big-turning, big-leaping jaffa remained throughout.Roach of the wretched luck also returned for an energetic spell after tea in which Asad Shafiq was sent back. Ultimately, West Indies did well to keep Pakistan down to just 147 runs after lunch, not only keeping the potential target down, but taking time out.Still it didn’t mask the dominance of Pakistan’s position or how the sterling morning work of Rampaul and Roach was wasted. Late yesterday, the pair had landed some heavy blows; not so this morning. From the offset they looked secure and the strokes were accomplished, none of the impatience of the top-order of both sides.The first boundary came as Roach guided Abdur Rehman through slips and in the next over, he cut Tanvir Ahmed for a far more authoritative boundary. An over later, as Rampaul cut Hafeez for two, the fifty partnership came up.Eventually it was left to Hafeez – who has at times looked Pakistan’s most threatening bowler – to break through, deceiving Roach in flight. Soon Bishoo gave Umar at slip his fourth catch of the innings. How West Indies must have wished later he was standing in their cordon to himself.