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Change Your Life! |
Mushtaq Ahmed exploited the West Indies' weakness |
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News |
May 9, 2000
GEORGETOWN, May 7: Mushtaq Ahmed exploited the West Indies' weakness against quality leg-spin bowling to give Pakistan a firm grip in the opening Test at Bourda Oval here on Sunday's rain-hit third day. Mushtaq captured two wickets and shattered the confidence of the opposition batting with his flight and guile in a truncated afternoon period after rain washed out the entire morning period to leave the West Indies shakily placed on 174 for six at tea. At
the break, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on the top score of and
paceman Nixon McLean was not out on 17 with Mushtaq's figures three
wickets for 72 runs from 29 overs. The West Indies captain Jimmy Adams, upon whom much hope had been pinned, was dismissed in the first over of the day when play commenced about 25 minutes after the appointed lunch interval. Adams, who led the host to a series win over Zimbabwe last month after Brian Lara stepped down from the post, was the first of three wickets in the session during which Mushtaq and veteran left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram bowled in harness for more than an hour to keep the pressure turned up under the West Indies. Playing defensively forward to Mushtaq's googly, Adams (20) edged a low catch to slip fielder Younis Khan after just four balls to leave the West Indies 106 for four. While Akram gained respect from Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle, the two left-handers tried to neutralize Mushtaq's threat with some enterprising strokeplay. They danced down the pitch to him and were quite willing to play boldly. Seduced
by his well-flighted 27th ball from Mushtaq, six-footer Gayle (13)
gathered all the power he could from his big frame to club the leg-spinner
over mid-wicket and into the Demerara River about five miles away, but
only succeeded in skying a swirling catch to Akram at mid-on.
Nine runs later, the West Indian wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs watched helplessly a return to Mushtaq from Wajahatullah Wasti, sprinting about 10 yards to his left to short third man, run him out for six, after he pleaded with Chanderpaul to scramble a single. In
close to an hour and a half before to a rescheduled tea break,
left-handers Chanderpaul and McLean added a valuable, unbroken 35 for the
seventh wicket to add some respectability to the West Indies' total.
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