Babar is 14 short of his first Test hundred since 2022, and Pakistan trail by 78
Abdullah Shafique’s unbeaten 107 and an unbroken stand of 168 have Pakistan 78 behind West Indies at Port of Spain, with Babar Azam 14 runs from ending a drought that goes back to December 2022.
Aug 4, 2026
Babar Azam resumes on 86 not out at the Queen’s Park Oval, 14 runs from his first Test century since December 2022. Pakistan closed day two of the second Test on 266 for 2 overnight, 78 behind West Indies, with Babar and Abdullah Shafique unseparated on a third-wicket stand worth 168.
Shafique reached three figures first, late in the day, and finished on 107 not out from 185 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. It was his sixth Test century, and it came from a player who was not in the original touring party at all. Pakistan flew him in as cover after opener Abdullah Fazal hurt his lower back in a training session in Trinidad, and by Monday evening he was the man holding the innings together.
Babar’s long wait for three figures
The number that follows Babar into day three is 14. His last Test hundred was 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022. Everything since has been argued over in public: whether he should be dropped, whether the technique still works outside Asia, whether the captaincy helps or hurts him.
He is captaining the side here too. Shan Masood took a Jayden Seales short ball on his left index finger in the first innings at Tarouba, batted on to make his seventh Test hundred, and only afterwards did scans show a fracture. He was ruled out of Port of Spain, and Babar took the job back for this match.
What Pakistan got on Monday was the patient version of him. Imam-ul-Haq went inside the first eight overs, Jomel Warrican trapped Azan Awais lbw to make it 98 for 2, and from there Babar and Shafique batted through the rest of the day without offering West Indies anything. Two sessions, no wickets, 168 runs.
West Indies squeeze 344 out of a turning pitch
West Indies resumed on 239 for 5 and hung around until the stroke of lunch, adding 105 for the last five wickets to finish on 344 in 105.4 overs. Justin Greaves top-scored with 73 off 150 balls, and captain Roston Chase made 70 from 126 with 11 fours. Neither innings was pretty. The surface was already giving the slow bowlers plenty, and both men played accordingly.
Sajid Khan did most of the damage with 4 for 85 from 32.4 overs. Ali Usman, in only his second Test, took two, as did Mohammad Ali and Ubaid Shah. On a pitch turning this early in a match, 344 looked like a score worth having. Shafique and Babar have spent a day and a half making it look ordinary.
The series is still there to be saved
West Indies lead the two-match series 1-0. They won the opener at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba by 90 runs, Seales taking five as Pakistan were bowled out for 120 in their second innings, so a draw at Queen’s Park Oval is enough for them. It would be their first Test series win over Pakistan in 26 years, since 2000.
Pakistan have to win, and that starts with a first-innings lead big enough to bat West Indies out of the game on a pitch that will keep deteriorating. Day three opens with eight wickets standing, a deficit of 78, and Babar 14 short of ending a drought that has followed him for close to four years. For a touring side that has to win, there are worse places to be.