Pakistan’s intent of preparing a rank-turner for the Test assignment against West Indies backfired as the tourists managed to trap the hosts in their own spin web on a dusty Multan pitch. Windies spinner Jomel Warrican took five wickets as the West Indies won a Test match in Pakistan for the first time in nearly 35 years on Monday. The West Indies won the second Test in Multan by 120 runs on day three to draw the series 1-1.
Pakistan won the first Test by 127 runs, also in Multan. Courtesy of the 1-1 series result, Pakistan dropped to the absolute bottom of the ICC World Test Championship points table.
The Shan Masood-led side is placed 9th in the standings with 5 wins and 9 losses from 14 matches. It was the first time since the start of the WTC format that Pakistan finished a campaign at the absolute bottom.
West Indies thrashed Pakistan in Pakistan by trapping them in their own spin web
Pakistan finish at bottom of WTC 2025 points table.
The worst test nation, officially pic.twitter.com/EErWRX2AOY
— Johns (@JohnyBravo183) January 27, 2025
Windies spinner Warrican finished with nine wickets in the match — 19 in the series — to give the hosts a taste of their own medicine on spin-friendly pitches.
Pakistan skipper Masood admitted that his side’s struggles against West Indies’ tail-enders resulted in them losing the second match.
“I think the only option left was to bring the fast bowler on and have a crack (on if he could have done anything better on the first day). They batted well, but that’s something that we have to learn. We have struggled to get the tail out here, something that we did well in Australia, but we also struggled in South Africa. Even in the game we lost right now, the first day, we were in a position where we wanted to be, just one bad performance, it led to a domino effect, but you can’t forget the way we have played right through We have realised that one extra partnership can have a big effect on games, that’s what we want to learn quickly.
“It’s a game of all stakeholders, appreciate the players to be willing to throw themselves into the den without being used to it (on their batting failure). We did win 3 of the 4 Tests on such pitches, we did well on the first session here as well. It’s important to see some encouraging signs – when Saud and Rizzy got their fifties, I got a 60-ball fifty in the first Test, Babar contributed as well. We might not get those big hundreds, but you need to be proactive, Brathwaite took the game on with his 50 and that’s what we need to be aware of and probably be better going further,” he said.
The last time the West Indies won a Test in Pakistan was in Faisalabad in November 1990, having gone winless on their 1997 and 2006 tours.
Resuming on 76-4 and chasing 254, Pakistan’s hopes of victory rested on Saud Shakeel but Kevin Sinclair had the left-hander caught in the slip for 13 to further dent the home team’s fading chances.
Babar Azam top-scored with 31 while Mohammad Rizwan made 25.
With AFP Inputs
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