Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan reached unbeaten half-centuries to lead Pakistan’s fightback in the first Test against the West Indies on Friday as the hosts reached 143-4 at the close of a fog-hit opening day .
When bad light in Multan ended play with just 41.3 overs bowled, Shakeel was 56 for his ninth half-century and Rizwan was not 51 for his 11th.
The pair added 97 after seeing off struggling Pakistan at 46-4.
The left-right combination of Shakeel and Rizwan negotiated the West Indies three-wheel attack with aplomb after fast bowler Jayden Seales initially left the home side struggling.
“This land is difficult to exploit,” Rizwan said.
“We batted conservatively and just took advantage of loose balls. It’s difficult to judge what should be a good total, but we will aim for over 300.”
It will be difficult for batters to feel the dry, grassless pitch at Multan Stadium over the last two days – and with spin set to play a major role – the home side opted to bat after winning the toss.
But the match was delayed due to morning fog compounded by poor air quality, which limited visibility and wiped out the first session.
Shakeel has hit four boundaries so far while Rizwan has seven hits at the close.
Seales finished with 3-21 from 10 overs.
“My aim was to put pressure on and get wickets,” he said. “I feel like effects will play a major role in this field in the future.”
Both teams started with three spinners and a single frontline fast bowler, and the tourists opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie alongside Seales.
It was Seales who provided the breakthrough, forcing debutant Muhammad Hurraira to take the lead off wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach in the sixth over. Hurraira scored six.
Three overs later, Motie dismissed skipper Shan Masood from a slight edge over the wicketkeeper for 11, before Seales trapped Kamran Ghulam leg-before with a brutal inbound delivery for five.
The score became 46-4 when Babar Azam edged Seales behind the wicket for eight runs, continuing a poor run of home scores for the Pakistani opener.
The two-match series is part of the World Test Championship. Pakistan are currently in eighth place and West Indies in ninth and last.
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