ABU DHABI: Pakistan scored 304 for four in the second test against West Indies in Abu Dhabi on the back of a brilliant 100 from senior batsman Younis Khan.
Khan’s 33rd Test hundred gave Pakistan the ideal first-day platform to build on. Pakistan lost its openers early and was at an uneasy 42 for 2 when Younis Khan and Asad Sahfiq led them to a commanding position.
Returning to the side after missing the day-night Test in Dubai due to dengue fever, Younis looked like he had never been away. He added 87 with Asad Shafiq for the third wicket, and 175 for the fourth with Misbah-ul-Haq, as Pakistan ground down a limited West Indies attack in typically benign first-day conditions in Abu Dhabi.
Younis made 127 before he fell in the 84th over of the day, with the umpires ruling that the light had faded too much to continue just as the nightwatchman Yasir Shah walked in to the middle. Misbah, who already has five hundreds in Abu Dhabi and averaged 99.77 at the ground before this innings, went to stumps batting on 90.
West Indies’ bowlers endured a long and largely thankless day on the field, made worse by two costly misses. In the last over before tea, Kraigg Brathwaite dropped a return catch when Younis was on 83. Then, batting on 54 in the eleventh over after tea, Misbah nicked a ball from Shannon Gabriel that straightened in the corridor. Shai Hope, having initially moved in the wrong direction, dived low to his right behind the stumps, and the ball bounced out of his right glove.
The normal red ball and daylight cricket returned in Abu Dhabi after the first Test was a day-night affair with the pink ball in Dubai, as Pakistan were off to an unimpressive start.
Azhar Ali, who scored a career best 302 not out in Dubai, played on to Gabriel in the fifth over and was bowled without scoring. Sami Aslam also did not last long as he missed an ambitious drive off leg-spinner Devendar Bishoo and was bowled for six. Shafiq was at his best from the start, playing with confidence as he has so far hit six boundaries in his 90-ball stay.
