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West Indies Bowl Over Pakistan by 90 Runs as Seales Seals First Test in Trinidad

Meera ChandranPublished 3d ago3 min readBased on 13 sources
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West Indies Bowl Over Pakistan by 90 Runs as Seales Seals First Test in Trinidad

West Indies beat Pakistan by 90 runs in the first Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series with one Test to play. The match ended on day four of the scheduled five, with fast bowler Jayden Seales ripping through Pakistan's second innings to finish with figures of 5 for 20. BBC Sport

Pakistan needed 211 to win — a modest target in Test cricket, where fourth-innings chases on a wearing pitch (a surface deteriorating after several days of play) are notoriously difficult. They collapsed to 71 for 9, nine wickets down with barely a third of the runs scored. A 49-run last-wicket stand between Babar Azam, who captained the side and finished unbeaten on 58, and fast bowler Muhammad Abbas briefly delayed the inevitable before Seales and his team-mates closed it out. BBC Sport; ESPNcricinfo

The match was a bowler's contest from the start. West Indies won the toss and batted first, posting 311 in their opening innings, with Shai Hope compiling a patient half-century — 50 off 113 balls with three boundaries. Pakistan replied with 282, built around a captain's hundred from opener Shan Masood, who made 109. That left West Indies a narrow first-innings lead of 29. Seales chipped in with the bat too, finishing 6 not out off 10 balls in the first innings. BBC Sport; ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan's all-rounder Muhammad Abbas had kept his side in the match with the ball, taking 5 for 22 as West Indies were bowled out for 181 in the second innings. Shamar Joseph provided the only real resistance with a quickfire 38 off 27 balls, clubbing four sixes to stretch the lead past 200 and give the bowlers something to defend. BBC Sport

Justin Greaves, the West Indies seam bowler, had done the early damage with 5 for 27 in Pakistan's first innings. Between Greaves and Seales — two five-wicket hauls across the match — the West Indian pace attack accounted for the bulk of the 40 wickets that fell across the four days. BBC Sport; ESPNcricinfo

For Pakistan, the result extends a grim run: it was their eighth consecutive Test defeat away from home. Babar Azam, leading the side in this series, fought hard with the bat but had too little support around him in the second innings. BBC Sport

West Indies captain Roston Chase dedicated the victory to Sir Garfield Sobers, the legendary all-rounder widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers the game has produced. The win gives West Indies a series lead heading into the second Test, which begins on 2 August at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. BBC Sport; Cricket West Indies

For fans, this was a throwback sort of Test — pace bowling, a wearing pitch, and a fourth-innings collapse that rewarded the side brave enough to keep attacking. The series now moves to Port of Spain, where Pakistan must win to level things and West Indies can seal a rare series triumph on home soil.

West Indies Bowl Over Pakistan by 90 Runs as Seales Seals First Test in Trinidad | The Brief