Pakistan Complete Emphatic Victory

By Faraz Shaukat
February 25 2002

What a site it is to see a Pakistan continuously fight in every session of a test match. Gone are the days when the heads start to hang, as a draw seems to be the likely result. With "never say never" captain Waqar, wins like today will always be on the card due to his attitude and leadership.

Quite easily the turning point of this match was in the middle of the fourth day, West Indies were cruising along quite nicely, the wicket had very little demons in it, and with four day gone and the first innings still to be completed, a draw was very much on the cards. However, Waqar Younis had other ideas as he produced a inspired spell of fast bowling to rip the heart out of the windies middle order. The result was a late order collapse and Pakistan were in a excellent position with a lead of over a hundred! Its these types of qualities that differentiate a good side from a great side, the will to win and the belief in your own abilities. Waqar Younis has started to impart this attitude onto his boys and its paying great dividends.

Once again this test match was a thoroughly professional display by Pakistan, the batting and bowling was consistent and persistent, The wicket had little to offer to the bowlers but they kept persisting with consistent pressure while the batsmen applied themselves on most occasions. The highlight being the huge hundreds by ever-reliable Yousuf Youhanna and in-form wicket keeper Rashid Latif.

The last day was a classic example of Pakistan sniffing a chance of a victory and just not letting go. One has to say that this side as to be one of the best in the world when it gets on a roll of grabbing wickets and sensing victory. The most classic examples being this one and the eight wickets in a session against England in Manchester!

Waqar Younis turned the tide by foregoing spin and bringing on his chief pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar . Along with Abdur Razzaq, the two wreaked havoc with the West Indian batting line up, bowling them out in 25 overs.

Akhtar - without wickets in the second innings - ended the day with the amazing figures of 5/24 in 16 and Abdur Razzaq with the equally astonishing 4/24 in 7.5 overs.

Of the last five West Indian batsmen, four scored ducks. Carl Hooper's men could only manage one half-century amongst them.

This loss is sure to cause a major psychological blow to the Windies as this is there fourth consecutive loss and they would not be too pleased to lose from a were comfortable position. However, one must say its very hard to deny a Pakistan outfit running in for the kill!