Bowlers rally West Indies - Bishoo grabs four in low-scoring, see-saw battle

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Debutant leg-spinner, Devendra Bishoo, snatched four wickets as West Indies dismissed Pakistan cheaply to wrest the initiative on the second day of the opening Test here yesterday.

The right-armer, bowling in familiar conditions at the National Stadium at Providence, finished with four for 68 to send the tourists tumbling for a paltry 160, in reply to West Indies' 226.

At the close, however, West Indies were struggling in their second innings at 34 for two - a lead of 100 runs - with opener Devon Smith (1) and Darren Bravo (8) already back in the pavilion.

On a day when 13 wickets tumbled for 211 runs, Bishoo kept the Windies out front in the low-scoring encounter, triggering a collapse which saw Pakistan crash from 57 for one to 80 for six, losing five wickets for 23 runs in the space of 12.5 overs.

He was helped by pacer Ravi Rampaul, who claimed three for 27, while captain Darren Sammy earned two for 16 with his medium pace, as Pakistan failed to recover despite an unbeaten 40 from Abdur Rehman, 34 from Azhar Ali and 33 from Umar Akmal.

Earlier, Kemar Roach and Bishoo extended their last wicket stand to 28, as the Windies consumed eight overs in the morning session after resuming at 209 for nine.

Roach struck 24 with three fours before prodding Saeed Ajmal to Azhar Ali at short leg, giving the off-spinner figures of five for 69.

West Indies then found success early when Rampaul bowled Mohammad Hafeez for four with the score on five, as the right-hander offered an indecisive stroke to play on in the second over of the innings.

Pakistan rebuilt, however, and there was no sign of the carnage to come when Taufeeq Umar (19) and Azhar Ali added 52 for the second wicket, reaching the safety of 45 for one at lunch.

Once the left-handed Taufeeq fell at 57 for two - lbw to one angled in from Sammy - after adding just six to his lunch time 13, the innings collapsed dramatically.

Three runs later, captain Misbah-ul-Haq was palpably lbw to Bishoo on the back foot for two and Azhar Ali was bowled in the next over from Sammy, offering no shot.

Asad Shafiq (2) survived an initial lbw appeal off Bishoo, but a referral saw the decision reversed, while Mohammad Salman (4) was given out lbw, but did not survive a challenge to the third umpire.

Tottering on 80 for six, Pakistan were bailed out by a 50-run, seventh-wicket stand between Abdur Rehman and Umar Akmal.

Abdur Rehman struck four fours in a defiant knock from 104 balls, while Akmal faced 75 balls and struck four fours before top-edging a pull at an innocuous delivery from Bishoo, to give wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh a simple catch.

Rampaul cleaned up the tail, with help from Roach, to secure West Indies a 66-run first innings lead.

West Indies failed to get the start they needed, however, when Devon Smith pushed forward to the first ball from off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez and was adjudged lbw for one with the score on three at the start of the second over of the innings.

Darren Bravo followed him soon after in similar fashion, as he too missed one from Ajmal to be lbw.

In-form Lendl Simmons carried the Windies fight at the close with 15 not out; and will resume batting this morning with nightwatchman Roach.

 WEST INDIES 1st Innings

(overnight 209 for nine)

D Smith b Mohammad Hafeez

13L Simmons lbw b Saeed Ajmal 49D Bravo lbw b Wahab Riaz 25R Sarwan c wkpr Mohammad Salman b Saeed Ajmal 23S Chanderpaul b Saeed Ajmal 27B Nash lbw b Saeed Ajmal 5+C Baugh lbw b Saeed Ajmal 4D Sammy c Umar Akmal b Abdur Rehman 12K Roach c Azhar Ali b Saeed Ajmal 24R Rampaul lbw b Mohammad Hafeez 14D Bishoo not out 15

Extras: (b5, lb7, w1, nb2) 15

TOTAL: (all out, 98 overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Smith), 2-71 (Bravo), 3-127 (Sarwan), 4-136 (Nash), 5-142 (Baugh), 6-159 (Sammy), 7-162 (Chanderpaul), 8-175 (Simmons), 9-198 (Rampaul), 10-226 (Roach)

NB: Simmons retired hurt at 81-2 and returned at 159-6.

Bowling: Umar Gul 13-0-40-0; Mohammad Hafeez 13-5-22-2; Abdur Rehman 29-11-51-2; Saeed Ajmal 33-14-69-5; Wahab Riaz 10-1-32-1.

PAKISTAN 1st Innings

Mohammad Hafeez b Rampaul

4Taufeeq Umar lbw b Sammy 19Azhar Ali b Sammy 34Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b Bishoo 2Asad Shafiq lbw b Bishoo 2Umar Akmal c wkpr Baugh b Bishoo 33+Mohammad Salman lbw b Bishoo 4Abdur Rehman not out 40Umar Gul c wkpr Baugh b Rampaul 5Saeed Ajmal lbw b Rampaul 1Wahab Riaz c wkpr Baugh b Roach 5

Extras: (b6, lb3, nb2) 11

TOTAL: (all out, 64.4 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Mohammad Hafeez), 2-57 (Taufeeq Umar), 3-60 (Misbah-ul-Haq), 4-62 (Azhar Ali), 5-66 (Asad Shafiq), 6-80 (Mohammad Salman), 7-130 (Umar Akmal), 8-135 (Umar Gul), 9-141 (Saeed Ajmal), 10-160 (Wahab Riaz)

Bowling: Roach 10-4.2-40-1, Rampaul 17-5-27-3, Sammy 12-6-16-2, Bishoo 25-6-68-4.

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings

D Smith lbw b Mohammad Hafeez

1L Simmons not out 15D Bravo lbw b Saeed Ajmal 8K Roach not out 3

Extras: (b4, lb3) 7

TOTAL: (2 wkts, 10.5 overs) 34

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Smith), 2-23 (Bravo)

Bowling: Umar Gul 3-0-10-0, Mohammad Hafeez 3-1-5-1, Abdur Rehman 2-0-9-0, Saeed Ajmal 2-2-0-1, Wahab Riaz0.5-0-3-0.

Position: West Indies lead by 100 runs.

Toss: West Indies.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, Tony Hill;

TV: Asoka de Silva.