Agencies

Kingston, June 4:

Chris Gayle rattled off a dazzling cameo as West Indies made a frenetic start in response to Pakistan’s first innings total of 374 on the second morning at Sabina Park. Gayle belted 33 from just 22 deliveries before Abdul Razzaq had him caught behind, but by lunch the hosts had knocked off 59 from the deficit, with D Smith on 25 and Ramnaresh Sarwan on 1. It was just the start West Indies needed after some fine bowling helped wrapped up the last four Pakistani wickets for just 38 runs. Corey Collymore, who reined in Pakistan during the final session on Friday, picked up three more to finish with stunning and richly deserved figures of 7-78. Razzaq and Kamran Akmal were the last recognised pair at the crease, but any hopes that Pakistan had of posting a huge total were dealt a severe blow in the day’s first over when Collymore trapped Razzaq in front without any addition to the overnight score.

Akmal continued to pull and cut in positive fashion, stitching together 19 with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan before Naved was struck a painful blow on the right thumb by a quick delivery from Daren Powell.

Shabbir Ahmed didn’t bother the scorers, giving Collymore his sixth victim of the innings, and when Powell sneaked one in low to trap Kamran one short of his half-century, Naved strode bravely out to the middle. He couldn’t make any impact, however, as Collymore mopped up the innings with a full delivery to Danish Kaneria. The injury clearly affected Rana, and he was taken out of the attack after conceding 22 from his two overs, with Gayle stroking some magnificent shots through the covers and off his pads. Shabbir wasn’t spared either, with a perfectly respectable delivery smashed into orbit over mid-on. It was left to Razzaq, on to replace Naved, to end the carnage with an away-going delivery that took the edge. But by then, the home team already had a platform on which to build, in batting conditions that will certainly interest a certain Brian Lara.