The West Indies gained a slender nine-run lead over Pakistan as the spinners dominated the opening day of the second Test in Multan, with Noman Ali achieving a hat-trick for the hosts.

Jomel Warrican took 4-43 and Gudakesh Motie 3-49 as Pakistan were bowled out for 154 at the close, replying to the West Indies’ first-innings total of 163.

Left-armer Noman became the first Pakistan spinner to register a Test hat-trick during his 6-41 as the West Indies were bowled out at the stroke of lunch in 41.1 overs, having won the toss and batted.

But the visitors hit back with a blitz of their own as 16 wickets fell to spinners, the most by that type of bowling on the opening day of a Test.

The previous record was 14 between England and South Africa at Leeds in 1907.

Only Mohammad Rizwan (49) and Saud Shakeel (32) batted with confidence for the home side, adding 68 for the fifth wicket before Pakistan slumped from 119-4 to 154 all out, losing the last six wickets for 35 runs.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach dismissed openers Muhammad Hurraira (nine) and Shan Masood (15), while Motie sent back Babar Azam (one) and Kamran Ghulam (16) to leave Pakistan at 51-4.

In the post-tea session, Shakeel was smartly caught in the deep by Roach, who hurt his groin but completed the catch, while Rizwan was stumped, both falling to Warrican.

Motie had Salman Agha for nine while the last man Kashif Ali was run out without scoring.

Earlier, the West Indies were left reeling at 38-7 with Sajid Khan 2-64 and Noman doing the damage.

It could have been worse for the tourists had Motie, who top scored with a career-best 55, not added an invaluable 68 runs for the last wicket with Warrican, who scored 36* with two sixes.

Motie also added 41 for the ninth wicket with Roach (25) to delay the lunch break before Noman grabbed the last two wickets for his eighth five-wicket haul in an innings.

Pakistan employed the same spin-heavy tactics which earned them a 127-run win in the first Test, with the ball turning from the first over.

Noman came on to bowl as the first change, and trapped West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite lbw for nine to spark a collapse which saw the tourists slump from 32-2 to 38-8 off just 14 deliveries.

Noman dismissed Justin Greaves for one, then Tevin Imlach and Kevin Sinclair off successive deliveries to become the fifth Pakistan bowler to grab a Test hat-trick.

Fast bowlers Wasim Akram (two hat-tricks against Sri Lanka in 1999), Abdul Razzaq (against Sri Lanka in 2000), Mohammad Sami (also against Sri Lanka, in 2002) and Naseem Shah (against Bangladesh in 2020) achieved the feat for Pakistan previously.

Off-spinner Sajid dismissed debutant Amir Jangoo and Alick Athanaze while Abrar Ahmed accounted for Kavem Hodge for 21.

Debutant pacer Kashif had Mikyle Louis for four in his first over.

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Pakistan have gone for a spin bowling attack as they seek a clean sweep against the West Indies in the second Test starting on Saturday.

Pakistan completed a 127-run win inside three days in the opening Test, with spinners Sajid Khan taking nine wickets, Noman Ali six and Abrar Ahmed five for their third straight win at home.

West Indies left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican also grabbed a career-best 7-32 as 34 of the 40 wickets in the match went to spinners.

The second Test will also be played on a dry and grassless pitch in the central city of Multan.

Former Pakistan players and analysts hit out at the spin-heavy strategy, saying the team would struggle on away tours where pitches may not be as conducive to spin.

Aaqib, a fast bowler from an era dominated by the great pacemen Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, insisted the spin assault would continue.

“We found that the West Indies have a weakness in dealing with the spin bowling, so we exploited that and will do that again,” Aaqib told a news conference on Friday.

West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite had no qualms about Pakistan’s tactics.

“Pakistan are playing at home and if they believe spinning pitches are their strength then that’s fine and that’s how cricket is played,” Brathwaite said. “I have played on pitches which took turn from day one but not like this, which had cracks from day one.”

The West Indies will be without injured pace bowler Jayden Seales, who took three wickets in the first match and will be replaced by the experienced Kemar Roach.

Pakistan are unlikely to make any changes.

Brathwaite said his batsmen need more faith after the first Test, in which his team managed just 137 and 123 in their two innings, with Alick Athanaze the only one to reach a half century.

“It was a difficult pitch to bat in the last game,” Brathwaite said. “I would say you need to believe in your plan from ball one and not think of the third or fourth ball.”

Pakistan are eighth and the West Indies ninth and last on the World Test Championship table.

Another victory in Multan could see the hosts rise to seventh.

Pakistan were forced to make radical changes last year after losing the first of three Tests against England, their 11th straight home Test without a win.

The Aaqib-led selection panel dropped out-of-form batsman Babar Azam and rested pace spearheads Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

The tactics worked on the spin-friendly pitches in Rawalpindi and Pakistan went on to win the series 2-1.

“If we had taken these decisions earlier we would have been in the race for World Test Championship final,” Aaqib said.

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Spin wizards Noman Ali and Sajid Khan guided Pakistan to a strong position against the West Indies after another spin-dominated day’s play in the opening Test in Multan.

The pair shared nine wickets between them to dismiss the West Indies for a paltry 137 in reply to the home team’s 230 all out earlier on day two.

By the close, Pakistan had stretched the 93-run lead to 202 by scoring 109-3 in their second innings, with Kamran Ghulam and Saud Shakeel batting on nine and two respectively when bad light ended play 25 minute before time.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (2-17) dismissed Muhammad Hurraira for 29 after an opening stand of 67 and Babar Azam for a second failure, trapped lbw for five.

Skipper Shan Masood look solid for his 52, hitting two sixes and two fours, before Warrican ran him out after attempting a quick single.

The dry and grassless Multan pitch has already produced 22 wickets in six sessions even though two-and-a-half hours were lost on day one, and another 30 minutes on Saturday, because of poor visibility.

Noman grabbed 5-39 for his seventh five-wicket haul in Tests, while Sajid finished with 4-65 to dismiss the West Indies after lunch in a first innings that lasted just 25.2 overs.

Noman and Sajid, who shared 39 of the 40 wickets in the last two Tests against England in Pakistan’s 2-1 series win last year, were once again unplayable.

Sajid opened the bowling and removed Mikyle Louis (one), Keacy Carty (nought), Kraigg Brathwaite (11) and Kavem Hodge (four) in his first three overs.

Noman then further jolted the tourists with another four wickets to leave them on 66-8.

The tailenders showed more resistance, with No 10 batsman Warrican unbeaten on 31, with Gudakesh Motie adding 19 and Jayden Seales the last wicket to fall for 22.

Seales hit three sixes before holing out off spinner Abrar Ahmed.

Earlier, Warrican took 3-69 as Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 43 runs after resuming at 143-4.

Saud Shakeel top-scored for Pakistan with 84 off 157 deliveries, including six boundaries, while keeper Mohammad Rizwan added 71.

Shakeel added an invaluable 141 for the fifth wicket with Rizwan, lifting Pakistan from a precarious 46-4 on day one.

Kevin Sinclair sparked the Pakistan batting collapse by taking Shakeel’s wicket with the first ball after drinks.

He then trapped Rizwan lbw off a missed reverse sweep, the original decision of not out overturned on review. Rizwan’s 133-ball stay included nine boundaries.

Sajid hit a boundary and a six in a rapid-fire 18 before he was bowled by Warrican on the stroke of lunch to end Pakistan’s innings.

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Pakistan spinner Noman Ali was recovering on Saturday after being rushed to hospital with acute appendicitis, with the veteran ruled out of the rest of their series against Australia. (more…)