Long-awaited victory!

• Sammy bags five as West Indies beat Pakistan to end Test drought

PROVIDENCE, Guyana (CMC):

Under-fire West Indies captain, Darren Sammy, answered his critics in a forthright manner, taking a leading role in bowling his side to a memorable 40-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test which ended yesterday at the Guyana National Stadium.

Sammy, whose place in the side and position of captain had been under a cloud going into the match, captured five wickets for 29 runs from 17 overs as Pakistan, chasing 219 for victory, were bowled out for 178 about 45 minutes after lunch on the fourth day.

Ravi Rampaul gave Sammy admirable support in the demolition of the Pakistan batting, with four for 48 from 21 overs.

Sammy had the privilege of formalising the result when he bowled Saeed Ajmal for three and to top it off he was named Man-of-the-Match.

The victory meant that West Indies took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, killing Pakistan's dreams of their first-ever Test series victory on Caribbean soil.

The second Test at Warner Park in the St Kitts capital of Basseterre opens on Friday.

spell ended

The result also ended a sequence of 17 straight Tests for West Indies without a victory, stretching back to February 2009, when they crushed England by an innings and 23 runs at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

It also gave the small crowd at the Guyana National Stadium a rare sight of a West Indies Test victory in their homeland, coming 13 years after West Indies beat England by 242 runs at Bourda Oval.

Sammy made two strategic strikes in the final half-hour before lunch to fortify West Indies' bid for victory, when he removed Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq for the top score of 52 and Mohammad Salman for a duck in the space of three balls, as the visitors reached 153 for six at lunch.

Until Sammy's intervention, Pakistan were coasting, after Rampaul gave West Indies a bright start, when he spectacularly bowled Asad Shafiq middle stump for 42 in the third over of the day.

This followed a fourth-wicket stand of 81 between Shafiq and Misbah that resurrected Pakistan from a perilous two runs for three wickets the previous evening.

West Indies were frustrated further for close to 1¹/² hours, when Misbah, who became the first batsman to reach 50 in the match, and Umar Akmal added 52 for the fifth wicket.

But Sammy trapped Misbah lbw playing defensively forward to a ball that moved back, and unsuccessfully challenged umpire Billy Bowden's decision.

Sammy then struck another telling blow when Salman too played forward and was struck plumb in front, stemming Pakistan's progress.

securing victory

After lunch, West Indies started with Sammy from the Media Centre End and Rampaul from the Pavilion End in a final charge to secure victory - and they did not have to wait long for the breakthrough.

Rampaul got Abdur Rehman to hang his bat at a delivery just outside the off stump and the edge flew low to second slip, where Devon Smith held a fine catch.

Sammy then wrapped things up, removing the last three Pakistan wickets in successive overs, including Umar Akmal for 47.

His dismissal of Umar Gul set a new record for the most lbws in a Test of 20, eclipsing the 17 between the two sides 18 years ago at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.

WEST INDIES 1st Innings 226

PAKISTAN 1st Innings 160

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings 152

PAKISTAN 2nd Innings (target: 219)

(overnight 80 for three)

Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Roach 2Taufeeq Umar lbw b Rampaul 0Azhar Ali c wkpr Baugh b Rampaul 0Asad Shafiq b Rampaul 42Misbah-ul-Haq lbw bSammy 52Umar Akmal lbw bSammy 47+Mohammad Salman lbw bSammy 0Abdur Rehman c Smith b Rampaul 6Umar Gul lbw bSammy 1Wahab Riaz not out 11Saeed Ajmal bSammy 3Extras: (b2, lb11, nb1) 14

TOTAL: (all out, 73 overs) 178

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Taufeeq Umar), 2-2 (Azhar Ali), 3-2 (Mohammad Hafeez), 4-83 (Asad Shafiq), 5-135 (Misbah-ul-Haq), 6-135 (Mohammad Salman), 7-160 (Abdur Rehman), 8-163 (Umar Gul), 9-166 (Umar Akmal)

Bowling: Roach 13-1-30-1; Rampaul 21-6-48-4; Bishoo 21-5-56-0 (nb1);Sammy 17-7-29-5; Nash 1-0-2-0

Result: West Indies won by 40 runs

Series: West Indies lead two-match series 1-0

Man-of-the-Match: D. Sammy (West Indies)

Umpires: B. Bowden, A. Hill

TV umpire: A. de Silva

Matchreferee: A. Hurst

Reserve umpire: N. Malcolm.