SAEED Ajmal bowled unchanged until 20 minutes before the tea break on the third day to take his first 10-wicket match  haul in Test cricket, which helped place Pakistan in a strong position to defeat the West Indies at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence , yesterday. Having taken 5-69 in the West Indies’ first innings, the 33-year-old Ajmal took 6-42 to end with 11-111 as the home team were shattered for 152 in their second innings, leaving the visitors 219 to take the first Test, to which they reached 80 for 3 at the end of the day, as the home team fought back.
Scores in the match: West Indies 226 and 152, Pakistan 160 and 80 for 3.
Pakistan made a vibrant start to the day’s play, when both overnight batsmen in Kemar Roach (3) and Lendl Simmons 21 were dismissed within the first 20 minutes of play, to leave the West Indies shakily placed on 47 for 4.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (11) who was joined by Shivnarine Chanderpaul when Simmons was dismissed, punched Wahab Riaz through point for four, before he was caught by Ali at forward short leg off Ajmal, leaving the West Indies on 59 for 5 at the end of the first hour’s play.
The wicket of Brendan Nash (3), who slipped while trying to regain his ground after being sent back by Chanderpaul when he was looking for a second run, left the West Indies in tatters at 73 for 6 in the 27th over of their innings.
Patience is virtue in Test cricket and Pakistan certainly displayed same yesterday as they toiled away at the home team’s batting lineup patiently, to take five wickets in the morning session to leave their hosts on 96 for 7 at lunch and a lead of 162 runs with three wickets in hand.
Darren Sammy was dismissed in the first over after lunch, lbw to Abdur Rehman for 9 and even though the West Indies’ 100 was raised off 37.1 overs, the task of getting to 150 seemed impossible for Chanderpaul and the remaining two batsmen, Rampaul and Bishoo.
Bishoo showed fight and resistance to the Pakistani’s all-spin attack, when he pulled Ajmal through backward square leg for four in the 52nd over, the first boundary in 20 overs, since Sammy had struck the same bowler through the cover region in the 32nd over.
Pakistan should have removed Bishoo immediately after he struck the boundary, but Mohammed Hafeez who was stationed at second slip, grassed a straightforward chance offered by the left-handed batsman off Riaz.
To the surprise of many, including the Pakistanis on the field of play, the West Indies reached 150 from 60.4 overs, as Bishoo and Chanderpaul showed strong resistance to the all-spin and at times pace/spin combination employed by Misbah-ul-Haq.
The resistance came to an end when Bishoo, who faced 67 balls for his 24 which included two fours, was caught by Akmal off Ajmal leaving Chanderpaul with whom he added 48 for the last wicket from 21.5 overs, unbeaten on 34.
As they did in their first innings, Pakistan got a disastrous start to their winning target, when Taufiq Umar (0) and Azhar Ali (0) were both dismissed by Rampaul in the second over of the innings and when Hafeez was given out lbw to Roach via the UDRS, Pakistan were tottering at 2 for 3.
The score should have been 6 for 4, but Darren Bravo, who was stationed at third slip, grassed an easy chance offered by Asad Shafiq before he had scored off Rampaul’s first delivery of his second over, with the batsman responding by hitting the next delivery through midwicket for four, followed by another to fine leg.
Two fours by ul-Haq who was forced to survive a testing spell of fast bowling from both Roach and Rampaul, carried Pakistan to 34 for 3 in the 16th over of their innings, a score they stayed at after the first hour’s play in the final session of the day.
As the home team’s bowling attack began to show signs of tiring, ul-Haq and Shafiq reached their 50-run partnership from 117 deliveries and 77 minutes of batting, with ul-Haq on 21 and Shafiq, who enjoyed the chance given to him by Bravo, on 27.
The two pushed the score to 80 for 3 from 36 overs before bad light was offered and they accepted, with ul-Haq on 34 and Shafiq 40. When play resumes today, Pakistan will be looking to score the remaining 139 runs to wrap up the victory.

WEST INDIES 1st innings 226
Pakistan 1st innings 160
WEST INDIES 2nd innings (o/n 34-2)
L. Simmons c Ali b Riaz    21
K. Roach lbw Ajmal    3
R. Sarwan c Ali b Ajmal    11
S. Chanderpaul not out    34
B. Nash run-out    3
C. Baugh c Akmal b Ajmal    7
D. Sammy lbw Rehman    9
R. Rampaul c Ali b Ajmal    2
D. Bishoo c Akmal b Ajmal    24
Extras: (b-7, lb-17, w-2, nb-1)    27
Total: (all out, off 61.5 overs)    152
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-23, 3-35, 4-47, 5-59, 6-73, 7-86, 8-99, 9-104.
Bowling: Gul 8-2-21-0 (w-2), Hafeez 9-1-15-1, Rehman 11-1-25-1, Ajmal 23.5-6-42-6, Riaz 10-1-25-1 (nb-1).

PAKISTAN 2nd Innings
M. Hafeez lbw Roach    2
T. Umar lbw Rampaul    0
A. Ali c Baugh b Rampaul    0
A. Shafiq not out    40
M. ul-Haq not out    34
Extras: (lb-4)    4
Total:  (for 3 wickets off 36 overs)    80
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-2, 3-24.
Bowling: Roach 8-1-16-1, Rampaul 11-3-24-2, Bishoo 10-4-19-0, Sammy 6-2-15-0, Nash 1-0-2-0.