Masood’s unbeaten 88 leaves Pakistan 112 behind in Tarouba

Pakistan spent the first day of this Test watching Kavem Hodge dig in. They spent the second one taking the game off West Indies, and by the time bad light ended play in Tarouba they were 199 for 3, only 112 behind, with Shan Masood unbeaten on 88 and seven wickets still to come.

Mohammad Ali finishes what the morning started

West Indies resumed at 194 for 3 with Hodge on 83 and Shai Hope on 39, and the innings unravelled from there. Hodge added a single before edging Khurram Shahzad to Salman Agha, out for 84 from 183 balls, which ended a fourth-wicket stand of 91.

Hope kept going almost to the end. He faced 182 balls for his 92, hit six fours and a six, and was ninth out when Mohammad Ali trapped him lbw with the total on 311. Only Shamar Joseph, who hit 23 off 13, gave him anything like company late on. The last seven West Indies wickets fell for 117.

Mohammad Ali finished with 4 for 50 from 21.5 overs, Mohammad Abbas took 3 for 63 from 26, and Khurram Shahzad claimed 2 for 66. Ali Usman, the slow left-armer handed a Test debut in this match, bowled 13 overs for 35 without a wicket. Pakistan also leaked 29 extras, 10 of them no-balls.

Masood answers the questions about his batting

This was Masood’s first Test innings since he was relieved of the captaincy, with Babar Azam back in charge, and it came after Kemar Roach bowled Azan Awais for a nine-ball duck in the third over. Pakistan were 1 for 1 inside three overs.

Masood reached his fifty off 46 balls. That is quick for a Test opener in the Caribbean, and it set the tone for a second-wicket stand of 155 with Imam-ul-Haq, who was rather more watchful for his 63 off 102 before Shamar Joseph had him caught by Justin Greaves.

Babar looked settled without ever quite taking over, making 23 from 38 balls before Jayden Seales found his edge and Hope took the catch behind the stumps. That ended a stand of 41 and brought Salman Agha out for a nervy nine balls before the umpires took the players off. Masood, 11 fours in his 137 balls, walked off 12 short of a hundred.

Two short days and a Test still wide open

Neither day has given a full quota of overs. Rain and bad light held day one to 67, and day two closed with Pakistan 48 overs into their reply. That matters in a five-day game where both sides now want time as much as runs.

Pakistan’s position is the stronger one. A lead of any size on this surface, with Mohammad Ali and Abbas getting the ball to move, would leave West Indies batting last against a bowling attack that has already shown it can run through them once. Roston Chase’s side will point to Hope and Hodge as evidence that runs are there for anyone willing to grind.

Day three starts at 10am in Trinidad, which is 7.30pm IST on Monday. Masood’s hundred is the first thing to watch, and after that the question of how far past 311 Pakistan can push.

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