Babar Azam fell short of a century, but Fawad Alam may still have a chance to reach three figures after the pair helped Pakistan recover from a poor start to finish day one of the second Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park in relative comfort at 212 for four.
Babar’s cool 75 after nearly five hours at the crease and Fawad’s normally pugnacious 76 before retiring hurting from severe leg cramps just after tea saved the tourists from a three-for-two position.
Kemar Roach led the way with the bat for the home side, taking three for 49 off 17 overs, including two wickets in his opening two overs.
In the last session, he returned to grab Babar’s crucial wicket, just as the Pakistan skipper appeared to be on his way to his sixth Test century.
When the awkward-looking left-hander had to crawl off the field on a hot afternoon in the Jamaican capital, temperatures reached 34 degrees, his fourth-wicket stand with Fawad was worth 158 runs.
The dehydrating circumstances also claimed West Indies wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva, who was replaced for the rest of the day by Jahmar Hamilton after the first-choice gloveman departed the field just before tea.
Despite Babar’s demise and the temporary loss of Fawad, Pakistan are on track for a difficult first-innings total, with Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf poised to restart their 44-run fifth-wicket partnership on the second morning.
However, Pakistan’s hopeful position was in striking contrast to their condition when they were down to two for three barely four overs into the day.
Abid Ali dropped to a brilliant low catch by Jermaine Blackwood at third slip from Roach in the opening over, shattering their hopes for a bright start after being put in.
The senior seamer then dismissed Azhar Ali without scoring, the former skipper edging a delivery through to da Silva, revelling in the bowler-friendly conditions.
Jayden Seales, who was named man of the match in the first Test after taking eight wickets, five of them in the second innings, shared in the early benefits.
He enticed the other opener, Imran Butt, to play at another full-length delivery, allowing da Silva to grab his second easy catch in nine balls.
The exquisite skipper countered with a few of magnificent boundaries, demonstrating excellent tenacity and discipline in overcoming West Indies’ all-pace attack.
Given his much-discussed extreme square-on batting stance, Fawad was once again a model of unconventional defiance.
“I thought Kemar (Roach) should have extended his opening spell for a couple more overs given how well he was bowling and how favourable the circumstances were to the bowlers at the time,” West Indies bowling coach Roddy Estwick said.
“However, you have to give credit to Babar and Fawad’s performance because they stayed focused and worked hard to put their team in a good position.”
In the two hours of play following lunch, the duo played with growing freedom, scoring 83 runs.
They appeared to be on track to do even better in the final session of the day, but Fawad succumbed to the conditions.
Whether or not his departure disrupted his skipper’s focus, Babar’s innings came to an end an hour after tea when Jason Holder took a crisp low catch at second slip from Roach.
The West Indies are aiming for their first Test series victory over Pakistan in 21 years.
The visitors hope to duplicate their achievements from the 2005 and 2011 Caribbean trips, when they lost the first two Tests before coming back to tie both two-Test series.