On the third day of the first Test match against the West Indies in Multan on Sunday, Pakistan defeated the West Indies by 127 runs thanks to five wickets from spinner Sajid Khan and four more from Abrar Ahmed.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed caught 4-27 as West Indies were knocked for 123, well short of their victory goal of 251, while Sajid grabbed 5-50 for match figures of 9-115.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the team.
“Win by spinning! Team Pakistan’s bowling was excellent!
“Congratulations on a fantastic win, our cricket team. Shabash! “Excellent work,” he said.
He continued by praising Mohsin Naqvi, Chairman of the PCB, and his whole staff for their unwavering work.
As the host team gained an early lead in the two-Test series, Pakistan’s spinners claimed all of the wickets in the second innings against the West Indies, with Noman Ali adding 1-42.
Together with Tevin Imlach, left-handed batsman Alick Athanaze scored 41 runs for the sixth wicket and struck 55, the tourists’ only half-century of the game.
Abrar’s haul included Jomel Warrican’s last wicket, while Sajid got rid of the dangerous Athanaze.
After Pakistan was bowled out for 157 in their second innings, left-armer Warrican spearheaded the tourists’ spin attack with a career-best 7-32. They surpassed fast bowler Malcolm Marshall’s 5-33 at Lahore in 1986, making them the greatest numbers by a West Indian bowler in Pakistan.
Although Shan Masood, the captain of Pakistan, commended his spinners, he stated that he hoped the team’s batting will improve.
“Abrar, Noman, and Sajid were excellent, and the spinners were clinical,” Masood remarked. “This pitch was difficult to bat on, but we still need to improve and add more runs with the final few wickets.”
Kraigg Brathwaite, his defeated opponent, urged the batters of the West Indies to have faith in their skills.
Brathwaite stated, “The batters didn’t play as well as they should have.” “We just need to have courage because we saw how Alick played.” We need to believe in ourselves since we have one more test to complete.
Less than eight sessions made up the test, and bad visibility caused the first day’s start to be delayed.
Sajid removed Brathwaite (12), Keacy Carty (six), Kavem Hodge (0), and Mikyle Louis (13), thanks to the Multan pitch’s strong spin.
The tourists were struggling at 54-5 after Noman trapped Justin Greaves leg before wicket for nine in the final over before lunch.
During the first inning, Noman took 5-39. In Pakistan’s 2-1 series victory over England last year, he and Sajid claimed 39 of the 40 wickets in the final two Test matches.
Pakistan only managed to add 48 runs when they resumed on 109-3.
Warrican achieved his maiden 10-wicket match total of 10-101 thanks to his nagging line and length.
He had Mohammad Rizwan for the same score in his following over after dismissing overnight batsman Saud Shakeel for two with the day’s first delivery.
With the wickets of Kamran Ghulam (27), Noman (nine), and Sajid (five), Warrican carried on the devastation.
On January 25, the second game will begin in Multan as well.
