Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Abbas ran through the West Indies batting line-up to skittle the hosts out for just 150. Pakistan scored 176 in 27.2 overs and declared, setting West Indies a target of 329. The latter then finished at 49/1 at stumps.
Day four started with Afridi removing the nightwatchman Alzarri Joseph. But that was the only success that Pakistan had in the first hour. Jermaine Blackwood and Nkrumah Bonner fought back hard and shared a stoic 60-run stand.
They helped West Indies go past the follow-on score before Mohammad Abbas struck twice in two deliveries. Blackwood didn’t last too long as Afridi got his fourth, and Abbas got Joshua Da Silva. West Indies slipped from 105/4 to 116/8.
Jason Holder struck a few lusty blows and scored 26 before Afridi wrapped up the innings, and WI were bowled out for 150. Pakistan gained a lead of 152. The openers came out all guns blazing and put on a 70-run opening stand which came in just 9.3 overs. Pakistan lost wickets consistently, but every batter that came in got a decent start and scored at a quick rate.
Imran Butt scored 37, Abid Ali got 29, Azhar Ali made 22 and Babar Azam amassed 33. Hasan Ali came out and struck a couple of sixes. Pakistan declared at 176/6 in 27.2 overs which set West Indies a target of 329. Their openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell weathered the early storm.
They added 34 runs in 13 overs before laziness from Powell cost him his wicket. The left-hander made his ground easily but didn’t ground his bat and was run out to give Pakistan a breakthrough. Joseph came out as nightwatchman and batted out six overs with skipper Brathwaite to take West Indies to stumps.
On day five, West Indies need 280 runs or need to bat out the entire day to seal the series. Meanwhile, Pakistan need nine wickets to level the series.
Brief scores
Pakistan 302/9 decl & 176/6 decl (Butt 37, Ali 29, Azam 33, Holder 2/27, Joseph 2/24) vs West Indies 150 (Bonner 37, Blackwood 33, Afridi 6/51, Abbas 3/44) & 49/1 (Powell 23)
