Darren Bravo battled manfully but the West Indies still went under to Pakistan by 56 runs in the opening match of the Haier Cup Test series at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE yesterday.
The left hander scored a composed 116 but when he left the West Indies still needed 87 to get to their winning mark of 346 runs and although skipper Holder tried to keep things together, the visitors folded for 289, making it seven straight losses across all formats against the Pakistanis on this tour.
Holder was left unbeaten on 40 and West Indies amazingly lost their last two wickets via the run out route, as the handful of supporters watching this day/night encounter celebrated a gripping day of Test cricket.
The day began in horrible fashion for the West Indies, as Marlon Samuels feathered the first ball to Sarfraz Ahmed of Amir. This immediately forced the West Indies into their shell and they looked nothing like the day before.
Bravo was watchful as has been his new approach to Test cricket and even the normally free flowing Jermaine Blackwood was hesitant. This gave Pakistan the confidence to rush in hard and soon there was another cause for celebration.
Mohammad Nawaz trapped Blackwood leg before and although umpire Paul Reifel ruled not out, his decision was overturned by the third umpire, upon a review from Pakistan. At 116 for four, the next run looked almost impossible to get. It was if every ball sent down by the hosts had a grenade attached to it.
Roston Chase was sound in defence but anything off line or off length, was dealt with. Bravo kept on picking the singles and all of a sudden the score started moving along.
The two pushed the score to 154 for four at lunch, leaving the equation 192 runs from the final two sessions with eight wickets in hand. As Bravo trudged off to enjoy his Arabic meal he was unbeaten on 46, with Chase on 21.
On the resumption, the two displayed good Test batting, as probing deliveries sent down by the Pakistanis were met with confident broad bats and those deficient were dispatched to the boundary. Bravo brought up his 16th Test fifty off 139 balls during the association and just as Chase looked set to register his, he tried to ondrive Yasir Shah out of the rough and was bowled. His 35 came of 83 balls and included three fours.
A run later West Indian spirits sank lower, as wicketkeeper/batsman Shane Dowrich was beaten for pace by Wahab Riaz and left the arena with the score at 194.
Skipper Holder came in and saw Bravo to his eighth Test century which came in 329 minutes of 211 balls and included nine fours and a six. The Barbadian blocked up one end in order to give Bravo all the support, knowing fully well that a victory depended on the man from Santa Cruz. They took the West Indies to the supper break at 232/6 and left 114 to the final session.
The final session started with more of the same application from Holder and some brilliant off-side play by Bravo. They took the score to 263 when a brilliant caught and bowled effort from Shah, ended Bravo's defiance. He batted for 410 minutes, faced 249 balls and struck 10 fours and a six.
Scoreboard
WI vs Pakistan
Pakistan 1st inns 579/3 dec
WI 1st inns 357
Pakistan 2nd inns 123
West Indies 2nd inns (o/n 95/1)
K Brathwaite b Amir 6
L Johnson lbw Amir 47
D Bravo c & b Yasir Shah 116
M Samuels c Safraz b Amir 4
J Blackwood lbw Nawaz 15
R Chase b Shah 35
S Dowrich b Riaz 0
J Holder not out 40
D Bishoo lbw Nawaz 3
M Cummins run out 1
S Gabriel run out
Extras (7lb, 5b, 5w, 4nb) 21
Total 289
FOW: 27, 87, 95, 116, 193, 194, 263, 276, 277, 289.
Bowling: M Amir 23-5-63-3, S Khan 10-1-22-0, Y Shah 41-6-113-2, M Nawaz 18-4-32-2, W Riaz 17-1-47-1.
Result: Pakistan won by 56 runs.
Man of the match: Azhar Ali.