Tea Pakistan 139 for 2 (Shafique 37*, Babar 32*) trail West Indies 344 all out (Greaves 73, Chase 70, Sajid 4-85) by 205 runs

A half-century from Azan Awais led a positive Pakistan response as they cast aside their fear and took the West Indies bowling attack on in Trinidad. In some of the best batting conditions in the game, Awais found the boundary on ten occasions – including four in an over against a rapid Shamar Joseph – as the visitors maintained a run rate over four. There were takeaways for the hosts, too, with the early dismissal of Imam-ul-Haq before Jomel Warrican trapped Awais in front as he tried another extravagant sweep. But Babar Azam, too, began brightly, and built up a budding partnership with Abdullah Shafiqe to reduce the deficit to 205.

In the absence of Shan Masood, Pakistan’s approach up top wasn’t clear, but Awais put any doubts to rest when he guided the innings’ second ball to fine leg for four off Kemar Roach. In Roach’s second over, the veteran West Indies seamer was hit out of the attack with three successive boundaries, forcing Roston Chase to introduce spin after four overs.

But it was the fast bowling change at the other end that drew first blood for the hosts. Joseph was cut away by Imam first ball, but drew his length back and upped the pace to cramp the left-hander on the back foot and hit the splice of his bat as he recoiled. It flew up to gully and sent Imam on his way. But it did not dull Pakistan’s spark.

Joseph bowled the quickest deliveries of the series a couple of overs later, including getting one up to a shade under 150kph, but Awais did not back down, dispatching him for four boundaries, and out of the attack. Shafique, meanwhile, took on Warrican’s spin, picking him up over extra cover for a classy pair of sixes, and sweeping him when he went too straight.

That sweep shot, though, got Awais in trouble when he failed to get out of the line of the stumps on one occasion. West Indies reviewed, and ball-tracking showed it slamming into leg stump, giving West Indies a breakthrough they desperately required. But Pakistan stuck to their gameplan in the half hour remaining before tea, with Babar particularly proactive at taking pace on.

In the morning, Pakistan eventually went through the bottom half of West Indies’ line-up, but not before the hosts got what they wanted out of it. Half-centuries from Justin Greaves and Roston Chase helped their side add 105 runs to their overnight score, getting up to 344 in an extended session before Pakistan finally wrapped up the lower order.

Mohammad Ali started errantly and Chase punished him with a pair of boundaries in the second over. But when Babar took the new ball and handed it to left arm spinner Ali Usman, he struck with his first ball as Greaves leading edge found Awais Zafar at short third. Roach battled as Chase continued to chip away in a continuing trend where every partnership in the innings bar one ended up reaching double-figures.

Ubaid Shah, who had been held back with the new ball, struck with his first delivery off the day, a lovely cross-seam ball that flicked the top of Chase’s middle stump off the pad. For once, Joseph’s adventurism did not amount to much as Sajid cleanup him up, but Pakistan continued to sustain damage on their way to inevitably polishing West Indies off.

The way the middle session panned out will reassure Pakistan somewhat, though they, of all teams, will know how quickly good batting work can come undone with a make-or-break session to go in the day.