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Babar, Awais hit centuries and Mohammad Ali bags five-for in Pakistan's tour game

Babar, Awais hit centuries and Mohammad Ali bags five-for in Pakistan's tour game
Babar, Awais hit centuries and Mohammad Ali bags five-for in Pakistan's tour game

Not all the Pakistan batters could make the most of the opportunity in Port of Spain ahead of the first Test against West Indies, which starts on July 25

Pakistan 455 for 4 dec (Awais 100*, Babar 100*, Masood 70, Fazal 50*, Bandoo 2-86) and 219 for 4 dec (Zafar 64*, Agha 52*, Warrican 2-36) drew with West Indies Select XI 279 (Hodge 92, Chanderpaul 51, Ali 5-37, Jamal 2-33, Usman 2-62)

Pakistan's reappointed Test captain Babar Azam scored a century as Pakistan enjoyed the better of the exchanges in their four-day tour match against a West Indies Select XI in Port of Spain. Pakistan's 21-year-old opener Azan Awais, who scored a hundred on debut in Bangladesh earlier this year, also scored a century, while Mohammad Ali took five wickets, which gave Pakistan a healthy innings lead. The game ended in a draw with Pakistan having stretched their lead to 395 runs with six wickets still in hand.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first, with a period of silence observed before the start of play for Sir Garfield Sobers, who died aged 89 the previous day. While Imam-ul-Haq fell early, Awais and Shan Masood, playing his first match since being stripped of the captaincy, assembled a 108-run stand, with Masood scoring 70.

With the surface looking flat, Babar came in at the fall of Masood and appeared comfortable throughout, watching Awais score a hundred from the other end before he was retired. Babar, too, opted to walk back after reaching three figures, as did Abdullah Fazal once he scored his half-century. All told, Pakistan amassed 455 runs, losing four wickets along the way.

The West Indians did not have nearly as easy a time against Pakistan's full-strength bowling attack, despite a 148-run stand between Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kavem Hodge. Once the pair fell - Hodge just eight shy of a hundred - Mohammad Ali inspired a swift collapse. Five wickets fell for 20 runs, before a brief lower-order resistance was swiftly extinguished by Aamer Jamal and Mohammad Ali, the latter getting his five-wicket haul as the opposition finished on 279.

It left Pakistan with the best part of the final day to bat through, one they utilised by tweaking the batting order, and getting in multiple batters who had not necessarily spent enough time at the crease in the first go. Mohammad Rizwan opened the batting, though he fell in the first over. Salman Ali Agha, Awais Zafar and Fazal were all retired after scoring runs of note, and stand-in keeper Ghazi Ghouri got a brief stint in. There was no prospect of a result, or, indeed, an attempt to force one as Pakistan put up another 219 for the loss of four.

This was Pakistan's only tour game. The first of two Tests begins on July 25 in Tarouba and the second on August 2 in Port of Spain.

Read full story on ESPN

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