Hodge’s unbeaten 83 holds West Indies together on a rain-hit first day in Tarouba
Kavem Hodge faced 181 balls and hit only nine boundaries, none of them after his fifty, as West Indies ground their way to 194 for 3 on an opening day shortened by rain and bad light.
Jul 26, 2026
Kavem Hodge was still there at the close. West Indies finished the first day of the Tarouba Test on 194 for 3 with him unbeaten on 83, their innings intact after a day that lost more than two hours to rain and then ended early because the light gave out.
Roston Chase won the toss and batted. Sixty-seven overs were all anyone got, and they produced 194 runs at 2.89 an over, a rate that says as much about West Indies’ willingness to bat time as it does about Pakistan’s control. By the close Hodge and Shai Hope had added 88 without being separated.
The weather had the first word
Brandon King was already gone by the time the rain arrived, bowled by Mohammad Abbas for 12 with the score on 13. West Indies were 23 for 1 after 14.1 overs when the players walked off, and the covers stayed on either side of what should have been lunch. Roughly two hours of the day went with it.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul survived a Pakistan review early on and then dug in for 77 balls before Aamer Jamal had him caught by Salman Agha for 21, breaking a stand of 51 with Hodge. Amir Jangoo went at it differently, taking two fours and a six in a 32-ball 21 until Abbas trapped him in front and Pakistan’s review confirmed it. That left the hosts 106 for 3 in the middle of the afternoon, with plenty of the day still to get through.
Hodge reached fifty, then stopped hitting boundaries
Hodge got to his half-century off 86 balls with nine fours in it. He did not hit another boundary for the rest of the day. The next 33 runs took him 95 deliveries, which was the whole point once Hope settled in at the other end and Pakistan tightened their line at the stumps.
Late in the day he had a nervous few minutes. In the space of three overs he needed a review of his own to survive one appeal, then watched Pakistan burn one against him on another. He is 83 not out from 181 balls, four hours at the crease, and Hope is with him on 39 from 91.
Abbas the pick of a disciplined attack
Abbas ended the day with 2 for 44 from 19 overs, six of them maidens, and was the bowler asking the hardest questions on a surface that gave the seamers something without ever threatening to blow the innings apart. Aamer Jamal took the other wicket but went for 54 from his 10 overs.
Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali were both wicketless, conceding 32 and 21, and Ali Usman marked his Test debut with 12 overs for 34. Pakistan’s one real lapse was in the run-up: eight of West Indies’ 18 extras were no-balls.
Still anyone’s Test
Bad light ended play at 67 overs, which means this is a match already running short of time before it has properly started. West Indies will want Hodge to convert and to bat Pakistan out of the contest on day two. Pakistan have a second new ball available 13 overs into the morning, and they will need it, because 194 for 3 becomes a very different proposition against Justin Greaves and Chase if that fourth-wicket stand gets to 150.
There are World Test Championship points on a two-match series, with the second Test starting at Queen’s Park Oval on 2 August, so neither side has much margin. West Indies have the better of the first day. They have not yet made it count.