Greaves holds West Indies together again as rain cuts day one in Port of Spain

Rain took most of the morning at Queen’s Park Oval, and Justin Greaves took care of the rest. West Indies closed day one of the second Test against Pakistan on 239 for 5 from 74 overs on Sunday, with Greaves unbeaten on 64 and his captain Roston Chase 36 not out alongside him.

A washed-out morning, then a grind

Only 9.5 overs were possible in the morning session before the weather closed in, and rain brought an early close at the other end of the day. In between, West Indies chose to bat and got the start they wanted from Brandon King, who hit nine fours in 46 from 50 balls before Ali Usman trapped him lbw.

Pakistan’s spinners did the bulk of the work. Ali Usman sent down 25 overs for 1 for 64, Sajid Khan 22 for 1 for 55, and Ubaid Shah, in the side with Mohammad Abbas left out, took 1 for 56 from nine.

Mohammad Ali was the pick of them, though, and the wicket that mattered was his. Shai Hope and Greaves had put on 53 and looked settled before Ali got one through Hope’s inside edge for 29, leaving West Indies 173 for 5 and the innings genuinely in the balance. He finished the day with 2 for 49 from 17 overs, five of them maidens.

Greaves survives a drop and an injury

Greaves and Chase have added 66 unbroken for the sixth wicket, and it could have been far shorter. Babar Azam put down a straightforward chance at leg slip shortly after Greaves reached his fifty, the kind of miss that decides low-scoring Tests in the Caribbean.

Greaves also needed lengthy treatment on the field after hurting his left leg completing a quick single, and how much that restricts him on day two is one of the more interesting questions of the morning. He is the player West Indies can least afford to lose. He took his first Test five-wicket haul in Tarouba last week, and the hosts need his overs as much as his runs.

Pakistan are playing to save the series

This is the second and final Test, and West Indies lead 1-0 after winning in Tarouba by 90 runs. Avoiding defeat here is enough for the hosts to take their first series win over Pakistan since 2000, so Pakistan have to win to change anything.

Babar Azam is leading them, having taken the Test captaincy back from Shan Masood for this tour and the England series that follows. Masood is missing this match with a fractured left index finger, taken while making a century in Tarouba, which is a hard way to lose a batter in that kind of form.

Pakistan lost their eighth away Test in a row in the first match of this series. Day two starts at 7:30pm IST, and their bowlers need the lower order cheaply to have any say in this one.

Follow the rest of the Caribbean Test