County Championship Day 4

Essex draw with Surrey
Glamorgan beat Durham by three wickets
Kent beat Sussex by 147 runs

3rd ODI ENG 2-1 SA

England 153 (31.1 ov)
South Africa 156/3 (28.5 ov)
South Africa won by 7 wickets (with 127 balls remaining)

Any fears that England will saunter into the Champions Trophy in an overly-confident fashion have at least been allayed following a limp display on a grey bank holiday Monday in which their batsmen produced a collapse of old to gift South Africa a consolation seven-wicket win.

Eoin Morgan’s side have produced some startling feats with the bat during their post-World Cup revival but after suffering the ignominy of losing their first six wickets for 20 runs in five overs – the fastest top-order collapse in one-day history – and being eventually bowled out for 153 in 31.1 overs, they have received a significant size 10 up the backside on the eve of the tournament, albeit in a dead-rubber.

South Africa, whose fielding was vastly improved from the defeats in Leeds and Southampton, then avoided a 3-0 defeat by cruising to 59 for no loss from 11 overs before the scheduled interval and then onto the target with 21.1 overs to spare after the resumption for the loss of three wickets. Hashim Amla top-scored on 55, becoming the fastest man to 7,000 one-day runs in the process, and after a rusty start to their tour, the world’s No1 side are up and running.

Along with two-years of shackle-shedding belligerence, familiarity with conditions is one reason why England have become Champions Trophy favourites with the bookmakers. And yet under overcast skies and on a Lord’s pitch tinged with green they were cut to ribbons first thing, as Kagiso Rabada (four for 39) and Wayne Parnell (three for 43) shone with the two new balls in hand.

Jonny Bairstow’s 51 and his two handy partnerships alongside David Willey, 26, and the debutant Toby Roland-Jones, an unbeaten 37 on debut, ensured a packed house were not home in time for lunch but the manner of the top order’s subsidence must give them food for thought. Going hard may have be their default but, given the fact that day games in the next month will start at the earlier time of 10.30am, there may be times when some extra nous is required.

England made four changes from the thrilling last-over win in Southampton on Saturday, with Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali stood down amid injury niggles and Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett rested. A weakened side this may have been, but it must also be noted that the first six men to fall after Morgan lost the toss will all play in Thursday’s opener against Bangladesh at the Oval.

A last-minute change of plan to bring the form-rich Bairstow into the side feels unlikely from the current set-up, despite tradition almost demanding it. Nevertheless, Jason Roy will be hoping the return to his home ground can jolt his game back into life and secure his spot for the duration of the tournament, having endured a troubling start to the international summer in which four of his five innings have ended in single figures.

Here it was off the fifth ball of an overcast morning in St John’s Wood, having flicked Rabada for four through leg only to then nick the follow-up that seamed down the slope to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. Joe Root was then trapped in front for two by an inswinger from Parnell in the following over, before the left-armer teased an edge from the man-of-the-series Morgan in the fourth.

If these first three dismissals can go down to the prowess of the two bowlers then the follow-ups from Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid were all hard-handed drives to an adhesive slip-cordon. The last two of which saw Rabada on a hat-trick thanks to flying grabs by Faf du Plessis and Lord’s, stunned to silence in the main, made its collective feelings known by meeting the stout defence that followed from Bairstow with ironic cheers.

Having racked up 10 scores in excess of 300 in their last 11 innings batting first – the exception was 296 for six in Antigua in February – England have set the bar high and will at least be happy this failure came in the mock-exams rather than the real deal.

In Bairstow they have a reserve batsman ready to pounce too, with the Yorkshireman guiding the team that cannot find a place for him well past an all-time low of 86 all out against Australia in 2001 with trademark muscular drives and cuts before eventually being stumped off spinner Keshav Maharaj attempting an ninth boundary.

Roland-Jones, who was drafted in on Sunday evening alongside Steven Finn but is similarly not part of the Champions Trophy squad, showed his long-handled prowess from No9 after Willey gave the returning Parnell his third, overcoming an early blow to the head from Chris Morris to stroke five fours and heave one mighty six during his run-a-ball cameo.

The Middlesex man, who was left high and dry at the end as Maharaj snuffed out Jake Ball and Finn with minimal fuss, will look more fondly on his maiden international wicket as Amla chopped onto his stumps after the post-interval resumption.


Ball offered the only other bright spark on a gloomy day, with his unbroken spell of 10 overs, two for 43 from the Nursery End accounting for De Kock, bowled for 34 missing one that angled in from around, and Du Plessis, flashing hard to Buttler behind the stumps. With Willey’s first three overs a repeat of his profligacy against Ireland, the Nottinghamshire right-armer has, like Bairstow, cemented his place as first reserve.

County Championship (Leicestershire v Derbyshire only)

Day 1

Leicestershire 415/3 (96.0 ov)
Derbyshire

Mark Cosgrove made Derbyshire pay a high price for dropping him by scoring yet another hundred at Derby as Leicestershire powered to maximum batting points on the opening day of the Division Two County Championship match against Derbyshire.

After he was missed on 8, the Leicestershire skipper dominated the bowling to finish the day on 137, sharing a third-wicket stand of 175 with Colin Ackermann who made 118, his first century for the county.

Cosgrove's previous three innings at Derby, where he made his career-best 233 for Glamorgan in 2006, were 156, 95 not out and 110, and he passed 13,000 first-class runs as Leicestershire closed on 415 for 3 with Ned Eckersley unbeaten on 77.

Derbyshire probably feared they were in for a long, hot day in the field when Cosgrove won the toss and had no hesitation in batting on a dry pitch in sunny conditions.

At least the bowlers made it difficult for the batsmen by maintaining a disciplined and consistent line until Leicestershire got away after tea. Only 37 runs came from the first 16 overs before Tony Palladino found just enough movement to have Paul Horton caught behind for 20.

Harry Dearden and Ackermann played carefully for the rest of the morning but Dearden went shortly after lunch, caught at gully driving at Tom Taylor four short of his fifty.

Taylor should have had Cosgrove 12 runs later but Gary Wilson, who was not keeping wicket because of a recurrence of a knee problem, spilled the chance diving in front of first slip.

Perhaps it was a 'keeper's instinct that prompted Wilson to go for the catch but it proved an expensive miss as Cosgrove and Ackermann took advantage of the favourable conditions.

Ackermann launched Wayne Madsen's off-spin over long on for six before he cut Jeevan Mendis for his 15th four to reach three figures from 149 balls.

The Sri Lankan legspinner found enough turn to have Ackermann caught at first slip but Cosgrove went smoothly through the gears to record yet another hundred at Derby.

In the second over with the new ball, he pulled and cut Rob Hemmings for boundaries to bring up his century which came off only 124 balls and included 17 fours.

It was the 34th of his first-class career, his 10th for Leicestershire and with Eckersley accelerating to a 49-ball 50, Leicestershire plundered 201 from 32 overs in the last session.


Day 2

Leicestershire 619
Derbyshire 154/1 (45.0 ov)

Derbyshire trail by 465 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Skipper Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.

Godleman marked his 50th first-class appearance for the county with an unbeaten 60 as Derbyshire closed on 154 for 1 in reply to Leicestershire's 619, still 465 behind.

Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove top-scored with 188, adding 239 in 38 overs with Ned Eckersley who made a career-best 158 while Sri Lankan allrounder Jeevan Mendis took 6 for 204.

It was a question of how many Leicestershire would score at the start of another hot day and the answer was plenty as Cosgrove and Eckersley plundered 100 in the first hour.

Cosgrove passed his previous best for the county of 156 at Derby two years ago with a pull for four off Tony Palladino and he launched Mendis for two sixes to bring up the 500 before he was caught at long on.

The fourth-wicket stand beat the previous highest for the county against Derbyshire of 207 by Maurice Hallam and Willie Watson in 1959 and there were more records as Leicestershire erased their previous highest score at Derby of 552 for 6 declared 12 years ago.

When Eckersley completed his first hundred of the season from only 91 balls, it was only the 13th time in Leicestershire's history that three batsmen had scored centuries in the same innings and another declaration looked like the only way Derbyshire would get off the field until Eckersley clipped Tom Taylor to deep midwicket.

His departure sparked a collapse that saw the last six wickets go down for 38 with Mendis the main beneficiary of Leicestershire's pursuit of quick runs as he returned the best figures by a Derbyshire legspinner since Kim Barnett, now director of cricket, took 6 for 28 against Glamorgan at Chesterfield in 1991.

It was also the most expensive analysis by a Derbyshire bowler in 113 years although he had bowled 52 overs, 24.3 of them in one spell from the Racecourse end broken only be lunch.

But the most relevant figure for Derbyshire was 470, the runs required to avoid the follow-on, and Slater and Godleman gave them a solid start although both had some narrow escapes before Slater was caught at short leg off Zak Chappell for 42.


Shiv Thakor played and missed several times but hit Chappell for three successive fours although Derbyshire have a lot of batting to do to save the game.


Day 3

Leicestershire 619
Derbyshire 532/8 (141.0 ov)
Derbyshire trail by 87 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Billy Godleman led by example as Derbyshire hit back strongly on the third day of the Division Two County Championship match against Leicestershire at Derby.

The Derbyshire captain made 141 from 275 balls and with former Leicestershire allrounder Shiv Thakor scoring 132 and Gary Wilson 97, the home side closed on 532 for 8, 87 behind.

Leicestershire's 20-year-old fast bowler Zak Chappell took wickets and Clint McKay returned the impressive figures of 2 for 78 from 32 overs but the rest of the attack struggled on a lifeless pitch.

Derbyshire had a lot of batting to do at the start of the day and Godleman and Thakor took their partnership well into the afternoon to give their side a fighting chance of saving the game.

McKay apart, Leicestershire's bowling lacked the consistency required on a flat pitch to exert pressure and a dropped catch only added to a frustrating morning for the visitors.

Godleman had reached his ninth first-class hundred for Derbyshire by driving Zak Chappell for his 17th four but Thakor should have gone on 86 when he clipped Rob Sayer to midwicket where Chappell spilled an easy chance.

Thakor took advantage against his former county to reach his first century of the season in the County Championship from 160 balls with 16 fours and the pair established a new Derbyshire second-wicket record against Leicestershire of 236 before they were parted.

It was McKay who broke through with a ball that swung away enough to take the outside edge after Thakor had made his highest score for Derbyshire and the Australian struck again in his next over when Wayne Madsen lobbed a catch to short over.

Alex Hughes edged Dieter Klein to second slip but Godleman's occupation lasted just short of seven hours before Chappell speared a yorker through his defence.

Derbyshire were still in danger at that stage of falling short of the 470 follow-on target but Wilson, who secured maximum batting points with a six off Sayer, and Daryn Smit added 81 in 18 overs.

Smit made his highest championship score for Derbyshire but was caught at second slip trying to run Klein to third man and Jeevan Mendis became Colin Ackermann's first Leicestershire wicket when he got a leading edge to point.


Wilson looked certain to become the sixth player in the game to make a hundred but he fell for the second time in the 90's this season trying to pull Chappell but he had helped Derbyshire record their highest score against Leicestershire.



Day 4

Leicestershire 619 & 217/3d
Derbyshire 533 & 42/0 (10.0 ov)
Match drawn

Derbyshire ended a run of three consecutive defeats in the County Championship as their Division Two match against Leicestershire at Derby ended in a tame draw.

Leicestershire batted on in their second innings for 57 overs before declaring on 217 for 3, which included half centuries for openers Paul Horton and Harry Dearden. A target of 304 in 33 overs was never realistic and the inevitable draw was agreed with Derbyshire 42 without loss from 10 overs.

There was always a chance the game would end in stalemate on such a lifeless pitch but the day began promisingly for Leicestershire, who took the last two Derbyshire wickets in 11 balls. Clint McKay struck with the third delivery of the day, which moved away just enough to take the edge of Rob Hemmings bat, and Tony Palladino gloved a pull to give Zak Chappell his fourth wicket.

A lead of 86 was increased to 183 at lunch by Horton and Dearden, although Horton was given a life on 8 when he was dropped at first slip by Wayne Madsen off Tom Taylor.

Horton completed his first fifty of the season before he was caught behind off Taylor and Dearden fell to a stunning piece of fielding by Billy Godleman, who threw the ball up at long-on to avoid taking it over the rope before completing the catch.

He took a more straightforward one to dismiss Mark Cosgrove and give Jeevan Mendis his eighth wicket in the game but the Sri Lankan's match figures of 8 for 283 were the most expensive in Derbyshire's history.

The game almost ground to a halt after Cosgrove's departure with Colin Ackermann and Ned Eckersley scoring only 43 runs in 13 overs while Derbyshire slowed down the over rate.


Leicestershire finally declared three overs after tea leaving Derbyshire to score at more than nine an over to pull off what would have been an astonishing victory and the players shook hands with 23 overs still to bowl.

County Championship Day 3

Div One:

Hampshire beat Somerset by eight wickets
Surrey 369 & 55-1 v Essex 383


Div Two:

Notts beat Glos by an innings and 50 runs
Worcs beat Northants by eight wickets
Sussex 164 & 182-6 v Kent 369 & 289-2d
Durham 342 & 158-3 v Glamorgan 353

2nd ODI ENG 2-0 SA

England 330/6 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 328/5 (50.0 ov)
England won by 2 runs

A brilliant, modern one-day contest ended with a stunning English victory by two runs. Just seven were required from the last over and David Miller and Chris Morris had already added a quickfire 55. A successful pursuit of 331 was the likely outcome

Mark Wood had the dubious honour and he bowled a final over of rare hostility and composure. He yielded just three runs from his first five balls, most of which were short and fast, and Morris was unable to hit the last one for four.

Thirty three were needed off the last three overs. Jake Ball, replacing the injured Chris Woakes, was the unlucky bowler to be shredded at the end of another thrilling contest. But Wood delivered an over that will guarantee his place in the side during the Champions Trophy provided he stays fit. There seems to be steel in Eoin Morgan’s side.

Here they gave another polished, professional performance, keeping their head in the field under pressure when Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers combined ominously in South Africa’s run chase. Morgan was icily decisive in his bowling changes and the men around him appeared to relish the challenge of a tight finish.

There are just two clouds on their horizon. Ben Stokes, who produced his second ODI century, bowled just three overs and could not be risked further. And there is the suggestion that this team might be peaking a little too early, which is barely more than an old-fashioned, superstitious observation.

This victory was so much tougher to achieve than the one at Headingley. Batting conditions were tricky when England started at 11 o’clock and South Africa were more resolute in their pursuit of another substantial target, 331.

South Africa’s start had been solid. They had scored 56 inside 10 overs before Hashim Amla was nimbly caught at extra cover by Morgan, off Stokes (of course).

Faf du Plessis fell to the excellent Liam Plunkett but then De Kock and De Villiers proceeded far too easily for the home crowd’s comfort in a partnership of 96. Now Plunkett made another telling contribution. He bowled a bouncer to De Villiers, which was correctly given as a wide. So the last delivery the South African captain was anticipating on the next ball was another short one – which is what Plunkett delivered. The ball brushed the glove of a startled De Villiers before it was caught by Jos Buttler.

De Kock soon followed, edging Moeen Ali to the keeper when two shy of his century, which meant that England finally had some leeway. But this time the South African lower order were more disciplined than at Headingley. Miller swung dangerously and to good effect – except in Wood’s final over.

Now England routinely pass 300. Here they did so despite grim, grey clouds hovering over the ground at the start and a relatively modest rate of progress after 25 overs when they were 120 for three. This time the IPL boys were the key contributors.

Since Headingley there has been much agonising over Stokes’s ability to bowl because of a dodgy knee, which meant that the quality of his batting may have been overlooked. In this format he bats at five and he demonstrated why, in a superbly paced, though-initially fortuitous innings.

His chief ally was Buttler, who emerged from an unusually unproductive spell in this format with an unbeaten 65. Hence England were able to knock up 111 runs in their final 10 overs as opposed to the 102 they managed at Headingley. At the moment someone always turns up.

Likewise there is always someone under scrutiny. Currently that man is Jason Roy, whose highest score in four ODI innings so far this summer is the 20 at Lord’s against Ireland. Understandably this regime gives players plenty of rope; they know that Roy has the capacity to change the game in 15 overs. But Roy may also recognise that Jonny Bairstow or Sam Billings would be more than happy to be drafted in as an opening batsman.

Here Roy played around a full, straight delivery from Kagiso Rabada. Joe Root looked in rather better form. He glided along from the start and England proceeded with few alarms for 10 overs. Alex Hales was not so fluent: he was dropped on the boundary by Rabada but could not take advantage, edging to the keeper.

No matter; Root was batting exquisitely, unveiling the odd ramp shot along with drives expertly clipped wide of diving fielders. Then a calamity that might have deflated a lesser side: a straight drive from Morgan clipped the fingers of the bowler, Dwaine Pretorius, and hit the stumps with Root stranded a foot out of his crease.

Now Amla committed the most costly error of a flawed performance by South Africa in the field. Stokes edged his first ball from Keshav Maharaj, who was making his ODI debut, and it passed straight through the hands of Amla at slip all the way to the boundary. Next ball another edge, just as thick, hit the gloves of De Kock.

Stokes was good enough to capitalise with Morgan a steady ally until he was caught behind off Rabada.

Buttler initially was out of sorts, his timing awry, but he was able to acclimatise in Stokes’s wake. Then one crunching pull shot of Andile Phehlukwayo announced that the magic had returned. Three more boundaries from Buttler followed in an over that cost 22. For the first time in ODI cricket the fourth, fifth and sixth wicket of an innings exceeded 70 (according to Zaltzman), statistical confirmation of what we already know: this England side bats deep. Moeen scurried effectively again and England had enough.

County Championship day 2

Division One:

Essex 215-3 v Surrey 369
Somerset 197 & 39-0 v Hampshire 162 & 293

Division Two:

Kent 369 & 116-0 v Sussex 164
Northants 238 & 53-2 v Worcs 434
Glos 149 & 37-1 v Notts 430-9d
Glamorgan 220-6 v Durham 342

County Championship Day 1

Div One:

Surrey 334-7 v Essex
Somerset 157-5 v Hampshire 162


Div Two:

Nottinghamshire 357-5 v Glos
Worcestershire 108-2 v Northants 238
Kent 316-8 v Sussex
Durham 342 all out v Glamorgan

1st ODI ENG 1-0 SA

England 339/6 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 267 (45.0 ov)
England won by 72 runs

If this is a taste of things to come over the next month then we are in for a treat. A sunlit Headingley evening, which rendered the floodlights redundant until 8.30pm, was decorated by a one-day international that had most of the components of a cracker although a late flurry of South African wickets denied us the luxury of one vital ingredient, a thrilling finish.

In the end England, having chalked up 339 for six in the first innings of the match, won by 72 runs, a surprisingly comfortable margin given the firepower in the South African lineup. The pursuit of 340 was always going to be tricky for the visitors but it was never out of the question. In the afternoon Eoin Morgan’s 11th one-day international century, augmented by a quickfire 77 from Moeen Ali, had ensured such a stiff target.

Despite the early loss of Quinton de Kock, expertly caught off a monumental skier by Jos Buttler, South Africa coasted serenely in the first half of their pursuit – not that Hashim Amla ever seems to be straining at the crease. Amla caressed the ball to the boundary eight times while scoring 73 with Faf du Plessis, who hit 67, a capable ally. For this pair it all looked ominously easy. After 24 overs South Africa were probably favourites. In this era 340 almost qualifies as a routine target on a benign pitch.

Then Mark Wood made a crucial and intelligent intervention. He had endured a torrid time, yielding 39 runs from his first four overs, mostly against Amla, who had the exasperating habit of hitting several of his good balls for four. But now a delivery from Wood struck Amla’s left pad; the appeal was rejected but the subsequent request for a review was justified. Then in the next over the admirable Liam Plunkett found the edge of Du Plessis’s bat and at last England had a firm foothold.

But they still had to contend with AB de Villiers; no match is safe for the fielding side while he remains at the crease. He lost JP Duminy and David Miller, both of whom were caught on the legside boundary. De Villiers rallied with a succession of blistering boundaries but his confidence in his lower middle order was waning. He sought another six against Moeen but miscued and was safely caught by Plunkett.

Thereafter England proceeded to a satisfying victory, marred only by concern about the fitness of Ben Stokes, who left the field briefly and who bowled only two overs because of a sore left knee. They will not take any risks with him in Southampton on Saturday.

The old hands ensured England’s substantial total. Morgan is now the wrong side of 30 and it will not be long before he is joined on this ripe old age by Moeen. It was their sixth-wicket partnership of 117 that rescued an innings that was in danger of drifting off course after the departure of the Indian Premier League boys, Stokes and Buttler, in quick succession.

Morgan was the adroit helmsman from the 18th over. He sparkled against the spinners for a while but then attacked more discreetly after the loss of those two wickets. Even so he reached his century from only 90 balls with a whippy hook for six (the fifth of his innings) against a rusty Kagiso Rabada. He fell looking for a sixth six with only 14 balls of the innings remaining.

It is important – and a rare event – for England to go into a major tournament with their captain in form. This time, with a calculated rather than chaotic period of preparation, that seems to be the case. It makes life so much easier for the team if they do not have to keep explaining away their captain’s latest failure.

Moeen, so easily underestimated and not required for the two matches against Ireland this month, offered critical assistance to his captain. He took three sixes from an Imran Tahir over during the most skittish knock of the innings. His 77 occupied a mere 51 balls and in between the odd swish at fresh air there was some wonderfully clean hitting on the legside. In the last 10 overs England conjured 102 runs, which is good going even in the 21st century. Moeen scored 65 of those.

A couple of stats from Andy Zaltzman in the Test Match Special box: Moeen became the first English No7 to hit five sixes in an innings and this was the first time England had passed 300 against South Africa at home, not that their total was ever going to guarantee victory. This May there are no guarantees.

It was a most inviting pitch – for batsmen – yet the top order could not quite make the most of it. Jason Roy edged when driving at Wayne Parnell in the second over. Joe Root began imperiously – he is an exquisite ODI player when he does not try to hit the ball hard – but, like Alex Hales, who was just beginning to look ominous, he was frustrated to be removed by Andile Phehlukwayo.

Both Stokes and Buttler were neatly caught by David Miller, the former on the deep midwicket boundary, the latter at a cunningly stationed leg gully, to leave England 198 for five.


But Morgan and Moeen calmly restored the situation. That calmness was evident in the field later in the evening. With the most unusual exception of Stokes, who slipped and dropped a catch at long-off, whenever the ball was hit in the air the catches were coolly taken.

County Championship Sussex v Durham Day 4

Durham 287 & 204: Weighell 58; Philander 4-39
Sussex 668: Wells 258, Van Zyl 149, Burgess 76, Archer 70; Coughlin 3-127

Sussex beat Durham by an innings and 177 runs


Sussex took the final six Durham wickets they needed on the final day to complete a thumping innings-and-177-run County Championship victory at Hove.

Durham resumed on 97-4, still 284 behind, and lost captain Paul Collingwood lbw to David Wiese in the second over without adding a run.

James Weighell resisted with 58 before he was bowled by Jofra Archer (3-49).

Vernon Philander finished the match after lunch with two wickets in two balls as Durham were all out for 204.

When the last wicket fell, Ryan Pringle was left stranded on 38 having batted for 201 balls and more than four hours.

Durham, who began the season on minus 48 points as a sanction for their financial problems, have now failed to win any of their opening three Division Two matches.

Sussex's first four-day victory of the campaign was largely built around their mammoth first-innings total of 668 and a career-best 258 from Luke Wells, meaning Durham needed 381 just to make the hosts bat again.

But after Collingwood went to just the 11th ball of the final morning for 31 his side faced an uphill battle to salvage a draw.

Weighell struck 10 fours in his maiden first-class fifty before his 55-ball innings was ended when the pacy Archer sent his leg stump flying.

Three overs later Philander dismissed Chris Rushworth and Graham Onions to end with 4-39 and leave Durham still on minus 30 points.

County Championship Sussex v Durham Day 3

Durham 287 & 97-4: Collingwood 31*; Jordan 2-11
Sussex 668: Wells 258, Van Zyl 149, Burgess 76, Archer 70; Coughlin 3-127
Durham trail by 284 runs

Sussex posted the fifth-highest first-class score in their history as they closed in on a crushing innings win over Durham at Hove in Division Two.

Stiaan van Zyl (149) fell early on day three but wicketkeeper Michael Burgess (76) and a brisk 70 from Jofra Archer pushed the hosts up to 668 all out.

Durham, starting 381 runs behind, lost opener Stephen Cook to the first ball of their second innings.

England's Keaton Jennings also fell cheaply as the visitors closed on 97-4.

South Africa seamer Vernon Philander removed compatriot Cook, who edged a swinging delivery to Chris Jordan at first slip, before bowling batsman Jennings for just five.

Durham captain Paul Collingwood (31 not out) and Ryan Pringle (18 not out) steadied things with an unbroken stand of 51 which lasted almost two hours, but the visitors will surely need to bat out the final day to earn a draw.

Earlier, Sussex had continued their dominance with the bat to gain a mammoth first-innings advantage.

Building on the 258 scored by Luke Wells on day two, both Burgess and Archer registered their third half-centuries in first-class cricket.


Archer's innings, which contained six fours and five sixes, took Sussex to their highest first-class total since setting their all-time record - the 742-5 declared they made against Somerset at Taunton in 2009.

County Championship Day 4 of 4 (DUR V SUS Day 2)

Div One:

Middlesex draw with Surrey
Somerset draw with Warwickshire
Lancashire draw with Yorkshire
Essex beat Hampshire by an innings and 92 runs

Div Two:

Leics drew with Kent
Glamorgan drew with Notts
Worcestershire beat Derbyshire by an innings and 42 runs
Sussex 452/4 v Durham 287 (Day 2)

IPL 2017 (the qualifiers)

Qualifier 1 

Rising Pune Supergiant 162/4 (20/20 ov)
Mumbai Indians 142/9 (20/20 ov)
Rising Pune Supergiant won by 20 runs

After being asked to bat on a favourable chasing ground, Rising Pune Supergiant lost a majority of the first innings. But it was an atypically slow surface at the Wankhede Stadium. Rising Pune utilised those sluggish conditions significantly better than Mumbai Indians to clear their path to the IPL final. Rising Pune defended 162 comfortably in the end, by 20 runs, their third win over Mumbai this season. Mumbai, despite having squandered the shootout for the final in front of another packed home crowd, will have another chance in Bengaluru in the second qualifier on Friday.

At the forefront of another sublime bowling performance was Washington Sundar, tidy and accurate with his offspin, who yielded returns of 3 for 16. A fuller-than-good length and straight line meant batsmen weren't able to attack either side with any conviction. His quick speed, combined with that length, cut down Mumbai's run-scoring options. The harder task on the night, though, was with the bat. Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane struck patient fifties, setting a platform for MS Dhoni to use his wiles and hitting prowess at the end to help Rising Pune finish with a decent score and sufficient momentum.

A strong start

In Mumbai Indians' last league game at this venue, Kings XI Punjab defended their score of 230 by just seven runs. With the possibility of dew and short boundaries, Rising Pune may not have been aiming that high after losing the toss, but they knew they needed to get close.

Planning, check. Execution, a big red cross. Rahul Tripathi fell over a flick and was bowled. Steven Smith's leading edge was snaffled up at backward point. Kings XI were 29 for 0 after two overs. Rising Pune were 9 for 2 at the same stage. The surface may have been slow and Mumbai's variations were effective, but in any case, a score of close to 170 was the best Rising Pune could hope for, which meant Mumbai were never out of the game.

Different pitch, same Dhoni finish

Rising Pune had laboured to 121 for 3 after 18 overs. The five overs prior to that yielded just 32 without a wicket as Mumbai's bowlers found the right length to MS Dhoni and Tiwary. Dhoni's strike rate in his first 10 balls in the IPL before this game was 88.52. Against Mumbai, he could only muster 14 off his first 17 balls.

But then Mitchell McClenaghan, not for the first time this season, missed his yorker. A high full toss was hit for four, the resultant free hit went for six over long-on. Dhoni anticipated McClenaghan's good or short length in the second half of that over, sat back and hit two sixes.

Jasprit Bumrah, up until the last over, didn't bowl anything in Dhoni's half. Dhoni knew that too. He hit Bumrah's good length for two more sixes to help Rising Pune plunder 41 in the last two overs. Their score of 162 was below par at this ground, but the momentum and confidence - of having defended a similar score before on this ground earlier in the season - was firmly with Rising Pune.

Falling behind from the start

Rising Pune may have felt they were short of a par score at the mid-innings break, but they had one significant aspect going for them: a two-paced Wankhede surface. Even if they didn't get early wickets, they had to keep Mumbai in check because batting was only going to get harder. Jaydev Unadkat brought out his offcutters in the first over and conceded just one run. Mumbai were already behind the game.

Parthiv Patel hit 33 runs in the Powerplay, but Mumbai lost three wickets. Lendl Simmons was run-out, backing up too far at the non-striker's end. Rohit Sharma was undone by another howler, given out lbw despite a thick inside edge. Ambati Rayudu found midwicket with a pull. Mumbai were 42 for 3 after the Powerplay and were significantly behind the asking rate.

Undone by conditions


Timing shots and picking slower deliveries was getting tougher. Why? After a bowler releases his delivery, batsmen pick the speed through the air and then adjust accordingly. The ball gripping in the surface meant it came onto the batsman slower than expected. Mumbai, having played seven league matches on an even, true Wankhede pitch, weren't used to that pace. Unadkat used his slower balls, Shardul Thakur his knuckle balls and Sundar an effective change in pace, to flummox Mumbai's batsmen into meeting the ball earlier than expected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eliminator - Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders


Sunrisers Hyderabad 128/7 (20/20 ov)
Kolkata Knight Riders 48/3 (5.2/6 ov, target 48)
Kolkata Knight Riders won by 7 wickets (with 4 balls remaining) (D/L method)


With half their Eliminator completed, Kolkata Knight Riders' players must have sat in their dugout, cursing. Cursing the weather, the scheduling, themselves. They had won the toss and bowled excellently to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 128. Conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium were far from ideal to bat in, but only six teams had ever defended a 20-overs total of 128 or less in the IPL. All six instances had occurred in or before the 2013 season.

And then it had rained, and rained some more.

Were this match to be washed out, Knight Riders would be knocked out, since they had finished fourth on the league table and Sunrisers third. They had lost their last two matches and blown a massive chance to finish in the top two.

Were the IPL's playing conditions uniform across all matches, Knight Riders would have been knocked out. But the playing conditions for the playoffs allow for a five-over match to begin as late as 12.26am - nearly four-and-a-half hours past the scheduled match start - and for a Super Over to be played as far into the night as 1.20am.

And so, three hours and 18 minutes after the rain had begun - a wait longer than most T20 games - Knight Riders' batsmen began the task of following up their bowlers' good work. Instead of 129 in 20 overs, they would now need to chase 48 in six.

Panic set in. Knight Riders meddled with their batting order, and then lost three wickets in 1.1 overs. But a shortened second innings favours the chasing team in a most exaggerated manner. Given how they bowled, Sunrisers may have thought they could have pushed for a win in a full-duration game, but as it happened, Knight Riders strode home with four balls to spare, their captain Gautam Gambhir easing them past the early jitters with an unbeaten 32 off 19 balls.

Knight Riders go short, Sunrisers fall short

The Chinnaswamy of 2017 hasn't been the Chinnaswamy of IPLs past: the average first-innings total during the league stage was 148. The pitch for the Eliminator wasn't a belter either; it was full of cracks and dark spots and proved, unsurprisingly, to be two-paced and grippy.

Knight Riders' spinners got the ball to turn sharply, which greatly exaggerated the difficulty of facing Sunil Narine in particular, and their seamers hardly gave the batsmen anything to drive. Of the 72 balls that Knight Riders' three quicks sent down, 53 were pitched either short or short of a good length, with constant pace variations thrown in. Off those 53 short or shortish balls, Sunrisers scored 46. The short ball occasionally sat up to be hit - the pull was a productive shot for David Warner and Kane Williamson during a second-wicket stand of 50 in 46 balls - but short of good length proved almost impossible to hit: 18 balls, eight runs conceded.

The Warner-Williamson partnership moved Sunrisers to 75 for 1 in 11.5 overs, which seemed a decent-enough platform on a far-from-straightforward pitch until both batsmen fell in the space of three balls. Williamson picked out extra-cover off a slower ball from Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Warner was bowled playing across a Piyush Chawla flipper.

Vijay Shankar flickered briefly to score 22 off 17, but there was little else of note from the middle and lower order as Sunrisers only managed 53 in their last 49 balls. Coulter-Nile finished with three wickets, and Umesh Yadav - who dismissed Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh - with two.


A completely different game

Given that the chasing team has ten wickets in both cases, getting 48 in six overs is an indisputably more straightforward ask than getting 129 in 20. Knight Riders still had to go out and get the runs. They opened with Chris Lynn, as always, and Robin Uthappa, for the first time this season. Lynn slapped Bhuvneshwar Kumar's second ball over point to erase an eighth of the target, but top-edged to the keeper next ball. Yusuf Pathan, haring out of his crease for an impossible leg-bye, was run out next ball.

When Uthappa picked out deep midwicket at the start of the next over, Knight Riders were 12 for 3. But they still only needed 36, with seven wickets in hand. It would only take a couple of boundaries to restore a sense of normalcy, and Gambhir produced them, top-edging Chris Jordan for six and putting Siddarth Kaul away for six and four off successive balls.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Qualifier 2 - MI v KKR


Kolkata Knight Riders 107 (18.5/20 ov)
Mumbai Indians 111/4 (14.3/20 ov)
Mumbai Indians won by 6 wickets (with 33 balls remaining)


Karn Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah picked up their best T20 bowling figures on the same day, combining to take 7 for 23 in seven overs to lift Mumbai Indians into their fourth IPL final with a six-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Sent in to bat on another difficult Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, Knight Riders succumbed to some excellent bowling plans to slump to 31 for 5 in seven overs. A 56-run sixth-wicket partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishank Jaggi ensured they would get past their lowest-ever total - 67, against the same opponents, back in 2008 - but their eventual total of 107 was never going to present Mumbai Indians a genuine challenge.

Mumbai lost three wickets inside their Powerplay, before Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma steadied the chase with a partnership of 54. Krunal remained at the crease till the end, finishing unbeaten on 45 off 30 balls as Mumbai got home with 33 balls remaining.

Bumrah, Karn demolish Knight Riders top order

Mumbai are among the best teams in the IPL at drawing up strategies against individual players. They went on to prove this through a sensational Powerplay.

Bumrah had never taken the new ball before this season, but he did so today. There seemed to be a reason for this - with his exaggerated angle into the right-hander and the bit of extra bounce his high-arm action gives him can make a hard bowler to hit down the ground. Down the ground is Chris Lynn's go-to area, and even the presence of a fielder at long-on did not deter him - he only managed to pick him out, though, making contact with the ball off the high part of his bat.

The exaggerated inward angle also did for Robin Uthappa, who has a pronounced tendency to plant his front leg across and play around his front pad. Bumrah, bowling a second over inside the Powerplay for only the third time this season, slipped one in nice and full, beat his inside edge, and pinged his front pad.

In between, Karn took out Sunil Narine. Before this match, Narine had scored the bulk of his runs through mid-off, at a blistering pace: 78 - 36.45% of his 214 this season - off 24 balls. Mumbai had made note of this even in the previous meeting between these sides at the Eden Gardens, stationing a man at long-off and getting their quicks to deny him the drive. He fell for a four-ball duck in that game, skying a back-of-a-length offcutter from Tim Southee to extra-cover.

This time, following broadly similar plans, Mitchell Johnson, Bumrah and Lasith Malinga gave him only 10 from seven balls - with six coming off one hit over square leg - before Karn came on to bowl the fifth over. The legspinner made a conscious effort to deny Narine swinging room, bowling at pads instead, and gave up only a leg-bye off two balls before he came back on strike. Frustrated, he ran down the pitch and was stumped slogging at the perfectly-pitched googly.

Two more fell in Karn's next over, the seventh of Knight Riders' innings. Gambhir picked out deep midwicket and Colin de Grandhomme, camped in his crease to a googly he didn't pick, was rapped on the back pad. Knight Riders were 31 for 5.

A brief and inadequate fightback

Suryakumar and Jaggi stemmed the fall of wickets, but runs continued to trickle. By the end of the 12th over, Knight Riders were only 61 for 5. Then Suryakumar swept Krunal to the square-leg boundary and followed up by lifting him inside-out over extra-cover. Jaggi, who had been scoring at well below a run a ball till that point, also got into the act, whipping Malinga for two leg-side fours in the next over. Knight Riders made 22 off the 13th and 14th overs, but they were taking risks in order to score that quickly. Karn came back to bowl the 15th over, and Jaggi, getting too close to the pitch of the ball, whipped him straight to long-on.

There was no real batting to follow, and Knight Riders only added 19 while losing their four remaining wickets, leaving seven balls unused. Johnson picked up two in the 17th over, Bumrah got his third in the 18th, and Malinga finished off the innings with a trademark dipping slower ball in the 19th.

Krunal aces Mumbai's chase

Mumbai only needed one partnership, and they got that courtesy Krunal and Rohit. They lost three wickets before that, though, two to Piyush Chawla. Like Karn, Chawla enjoyed the amount of grip he was getting off the surface; he foxed Lendl Simmons with a googly in the second over, and then bowled Ambati Rayudu after spinning a legbreak past his outside edge. In between, Parthiv Patel, who had hit three fours in racing to 14, top-edged Umesh Yadav to the keeper.

Right from the time he walked in, there was a sense of awareness about Krunal's batting. His first four was a paddle-sweep through the vacant short fine-leg area - Sunil Narine had moved that fielder to slip in a bid for wickets - and showed ample signs that he was picking the Trinidadian's variations out of his hand, picking up two fours in the 12th over - a dab to fine third man and a chip over the covers.

Rohit pulled Nathan Coulter-Nile straight to deep square leg in the 13th over, but by then Mumbai only needed 20, off 46 balls. They would only need 13.


Final - RPS v MI

Mumbai Indians 129/8 (20/20 ov)
Rising Pune Supergiant 128/6 (20/20 ov)

Mumbai Indians won by 1 run

This was, barring a WWE-style rebirth, Rising Pune Supergiant's last ever IPL game. They made sure it went the distance, all the way to the last ball, despite keeping Mumbai Indians down to the lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.

Somehow, Pune managed to drag a chase of 130 to the last ball.

The first ever IPL final had come down to the last ball too. Then, nine years ago, Sohail Tanvir pulled L Balaji for a single to win it for Rajasthan Royals.

Now, Mitchell Johnson bowled to Daniel Christian with Pune needing four to win. Bowling from around the wicket, Johnson went full and straight. Christian whipped it away to the left of deep square leg. J Suchith, the substitute fielder, fumbled at the boundary, allowing a second run. That wouldn't do for Pune. They needed four to win, and three to tie.

The batsmen chased a desperate third with Suchith's throw almost already in Parthiv Patel's gloves. Once Parthiv collected it safely, only one result was possible. Mumbai Indians, playing their fourth final, wrapped up their third title, winning by one run.

Krunal Pandya was Mumbai's hero with the bat, his 38-ball 47 dragging them from 79 for 7 to an eventual 129 for 8, a total that would enable their bowlers to scrap all the way. Then, helped along by Pune's ODI-style top-order approach, those scrapping bowlers managed to make the required rate creep steadily upwards - with five overs to go, Pune were only two down but needed 47 from 30.

Given Mumbai's death bowling, this was definitely not over. Jasprit Bumrah took out MS Dhoni in the 17th over. Then Lasith Malinga and Bumrah again ensured Pune would only get two boundaries across the 18th and 19th. That left Steven Smith, batting on 51, and Manoj Tiwary 11 to get from the last over.

Despite taking a boundary off his first ball, they couldn't quite do it against Johnson.

Mumbai bat, Mumbai falter

Six of the nine previous IPL finals had been won by the team batting first. Perhaps this was why Rohit Sharma went against his team's record this season of eight wins in 11 games while chasing. That too when they only had a 3-2 record while batting first.

Perhaps it had something to do with Mumbai's record against Pune: they had met three times this season, and Pune had won all three times, twice while batting first.

It seemed, right through Mumbai's innings, that they had some mental scars from all those defeats to Pune. A first-ball leave from Lendl Simmons set the tone for a cautious start on a slower-than-usual Hyderabad surface, with only seven coming off the first two overs, against Jaydev Unadkat's back-of-a-length cutters and Washington Sundar's flat, stump-to-stump offspin.

Then Unadkat dismissed both openers in the third over - a short ball cramping Parthiv Patel's attempt to pull, a slower ball clipping Simmons' leading edge and popping back for a diving return catch.

Mumbai never really recovered from there, despite Rohit Sharma smacking Lockie Ferguson for four fours in the sixth over. Adam Zampa removed Rohit and Kieron Pollard in the 12th over, and Mumbai were 65 for 5.

Krunal gives Mumbai a chance

Christian trapped Hardik Pandya lbw in the 14th, playing across the line, and Karn Sharma was run out in the next over, in most comical manner. Dropped by Christian diving to his left at slip, he ran out of his crease in a panic anyway. It seemed to sum up Mumbai's state of mind.

Krunal, though, seemed to be achieving some clarity of thought. For now, he was simply thinking of extending the innings as far as he could. It took until the 19th over for him to hit his first six, straight back over Unadkat's head. Then he swiped and slogged Christian for a four and a six in the last over, off which Pune scored 14. Still, their total was 14 short of the previous-lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.

That had come in 2009, when Deccan Chargers defended 143.

Rahane, Smith keep Mumbai in the game

No team had defended a total of 129 or below since the 2013 season. Mumbai, though, had the bowling to do it. Pune, meanwhile, adopted a keep-wickets-in-hand approach. With Rahul Tripathi lbw in the third over to Bumrah, Smith joined Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Rahane could have fallen for 14, foxed by a Malinga slower ball, but Krunal failed to hold on to a fairly straightforward chance at short cover.


By the time he holed out to long-on in the 12th over, he had made 44 of 38, batting as he would in the longer forms of the game. Smith, playing in the same manner, was batting on 18 off 25 at that point. Then, with Karn Sharma and Krunal getting the ball to grip and Malinga varying his pace expertly, came three boundary-free overs. With 30 balls remaining, Pune needed 47.

End-overs experts squeeze out Pune

A half-controlled square-cut from Dhoni sped between backward point and short third man, and two balls later Smith reverse-swiped Krunal for six. Fourteen came off that over, and Rising Pune seemed to be back on track.

Bumrah and Malinga, though, still had three overs to bowl. Bumrah got Dhoni caught behind, denying him width for the cut, and closed out that over, the 17th, with two lbw appeals against Manoj Tiwary, the batsman unable to read his changes of pace and angle, coupled with a hint of reverse.

Smith managed to flick Malinga for four in the 18th, in between a string of unhittable yorkers, and launched Bumrah over long-off in the 19th, off the one ball in the over that was pitched short of the blockhole. When Tiwary shuffled across and whipped the first ball of the 20th over to the vacant square-leg boundary - Johnson had just lost an argument with Rohit to station a fielder there - the equation came down to 7 off 5.

Surely, that would do it. Johnson, though, hadn't had his say yet. Looking to hit him over extra-cover, Tiwary was undone by the slower ball, only managing to drag it round to long-on. Then Smith, having crossed over, timed an inside-out slice perfectly, but straight to sweeper cover.

With three balls left, Pune needed seven, with two new batsmen at the crease. Washington Sundar brought Christian on strike off the fourth ball, failing to make contact with a wide-ish yorker but managing to scamper a bye. Then Christian, slogging at another full slower one, was dropped by Hardik running forward from deep midwicket - he sprinted a second, and Pune needed four from the last ball.


The last ball of Rising Pune Supergiant's two years in the IPL. It wouldn't be the last ball they wanted.

County Championship Day 3 of 4 (DUR V SUS Day 1)

Div One:

Surrey 313 & 194-4 v Middlesex 411
Lancashire 264-6 v Yorkshire 448-8d
Somerset 94-4 v Warwickshire 413
ESSEX BEAT HAMPSHIRE BY AN INNINGS AND 92 RUNS


Div Two:

Kent 193-5 v Leicestershire 420
Sussex 43-1 v Durham 287
Worcestershire 323-3 v Derbyshire 265
Glamorgan 187 & 212-5 v Notts 448
Durham 287 v Sussex 43-1 - day one

County Championship Day 2 of 4

Div One:

Middlesex 296-5 v Surrey 313
Yorkshire 421-7 v Lancashire
Hampshire 92-7 v Essex 360
Warwickshire 124-3 v Somerset

Div Two:

Notts 448 v Glamorgan 187
Leics 129-2 v Kent
Derbyshire 200-6 v Worcestershire

County Championship Day 1 of 4

Div One:

Surrey 265-5 v Middlesex
Yorkshire 251-6 v Lancashire
Warwickshire 93-3 v Somerset
Essex 243-2 v Hampshire


Div Two:

Notts 335-6 v Glamorgan
Derbyshire 111-3 v Worcs
Leicestershire and Kent didn’t see a ball bowled

Royal London One Day Cup

Gloucs v Surrey Match abandoned without a ball bowled
Hampshire v Sussex Match abandoned without a ball bowled
Essex 307/6 v Kent 50/3 (11/11 ov, target 108) Essex won by 57 runs (D/L method)
Middlesex v Somerset Match abandoned without a ball bowled

Royal London One Day Cup

Derbyshire 209/8 v Worcs 218/5 (target 218) Worcestershire win by 5 wickets on D/L 
Lancashire 304/8 v Durham 276/9 (target 305) Lancashire win by 28 runs
Northants 79/0 (14.4/50 ov) v Notts No result
Yorkshire 258/7 v Leics 238 (target 259) Yorkshire win by 20 runs

3 Test Series WI 1-1 PAK

3rd Test:

Day 1

Pakistan 169/2 (69.0 ov)
West Indies

Pakistan eased into their comfort zone in the evening session of a truncated day's play in Roseau. They played as they like to - slow, solid, unremarkable - scoring at a run rate around 2.50 throughout the day, ending on 169 for 2 in 69 overs. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam looked settled for most parts, much more so than one would have expected after their team was thrust in to bat under gloomy skies. The late wicket of Babar gave West Indies something to cling to on at the end of a long day.

After the brighter evening skies allowed for an extended final session, Azhar and Babar resumed their dominance, but the lengthy break seemed to have taken much of the intensity out of the game. The scoring rate dropped and there was a palpable lull in proceedings as Pakistan inched along in conditions that looked to have improved for batting.

There was a slice of luck for Babar soon after play resumed, a perfect legspinner from Devendra Bishoo taking his outside edge on 28, only for Dowrich to put down a straightforward. Excitement elsewhere was in precious little supply as Azhar brought up his half-century soon after and Pakistan hit cruise control.

There was a massive scare for the West Indies early on in the session, with their ace bowler Shannon Gabriel heading off the field with a niggle. Much to their relief, however, he was able to make his way back soon after, and, despite remaining wicketless, was the pick of the bowlers, wielding an aura of control over proceedings that his fellow bowlers couldn't quite match.

But it was Alzarri Joseph who provided the breakthrough towards the end of the day, with a fifth stump line that Babar couldn't quite decide whether to leave or play. He did neither in the end, and his bat jutted out indecisively. The ball caught the outside edge and carried through to slip, but not before he had scored 55 in a 120-run partnership that had put his side in a position of authority.

That heralded the most memorable moment of the day, as the West Indies players formed a guard of honour to allow Pakistan's next batsmen to pass through. Younis Khan strode in to respectful, almost reverent applause from the Dominica crowd before shaking Jason Holder's hand as a way of thanks, and then drawing him in with a warm embrace. With the niceties out of the way, West Indies brought their best bowler Gabriel back into the attack, knowing Younis' wicket could put an entirely different spin on proceedings. Pakistan's most prolific runscorer, however, stood firm, living to bat yet another day.

The first session, to borrow from a football cliché, was one of two halves with Pakistan scoring freely after the first hour, during which they managed just 19 runs in 13 overs for the loss of Shan Masood. The cloudy weather resembled much of the first Test, and Azhar Ali and Masood, replacing the ill Ahmed Shehzad, started tentatively against the late swing of Gabriel and Joseph. As the pair pounded away at the Pakistan side they had skittled for 81 less than a week earlier, the scoring rate wasn't of as much importance as the wickets column.

With the bowlers on top, it was surprising to see Holder introduce part-time offspinner Roston Chase into the attack as early as the ninth over. What was even more unexpected was the prodigious turn and bounce Chase extracted, beating the left-handed Masood's bat almost every ball. Masood's eventual dismissal was entirely in keeping with the events leading up to it, as he finally edged an offbreak that carried low to Jason Holder at second slip.

The run rate picked up sharply after the drinks interval, with Chase, who didn't concede a run in his first three overs, lofted for two sixes off consecutive overs by Azhar. With the left-hand batsman gone, Chase found himself unable to take advantage of the footmarks created by the fast bowlers, and his potency rapidly decreased.

By the time lunch was called, the tables had been turned almost completely, with the West Indies on the defensive as Pakistan tried to stamp their authority on a session they might have been dreading by the drinks break.


The rest of the day continued in much the same fashion, though with rain expected across the remaining four days of the Test, Pakistan will have to speed up their run rate if they are to prevail in a Test that would give them their first ever series win in the Caribbean.


Day 2


Pakistan 376
West Indies 14/0 
West Indies trail by 362 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings


West Indies safely negotiated an awkward last half hour to head to stumps without having lost a wicket in response to Pakistan's first innings total of 376. Kraigg Brathwaite and Keiron Powell were circumspect, eager to bat again tomorrow and technically adept enough to deserve it. That only 14 runs came off the 11 overs they faced will bother no one, considering Pakistan had trudged along in much the same way for almost two sessions.

On a day likely to be remembered for the pace, or the lack of it, Azhar Ali got his 14th Test hundred, and was supported by Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed as Pakistan looked set to bat through the day. However, West Indies bowlers came back into it in the final session as the last five Pakistan wickets fell for only 65 runs.

All eyes were on Sarfraz after tea, with Pakistan looking to inject some sorely lacking momentum into their innings. However, they were dealt a major setback early on in the session when Jason Holder took two wickets off two balls to send back Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah.

With the score on 322 for 8, West Indies would have hoped to run through the last two batsmen and make Pakistan pay for their lack of intent earlier on. But Sarfraz maddened them by bringing his street-cricket skills to the fore. The wicketkeeper batsman basically took guard outside leg stump, forcing the bowlers off their lines, and collected 39 of the 45-run partnership between himself and Mohammad Abbas.

Just as Pakistan began to close in on 400, Sarfraz edged one from Devendra Bishoo into first slip's hands. Hasan Ali came in and was good for a pair of lusty boundaries before Bishoo cleaned him up. Pakistan's bowlers may still be favourites with a cushion of 376 runs behind them, but a top team should really aspire for more after batting nearly 150 overs.

In the morning, taking aim at all those criticising them for batting too slowly on the opening day, Pakistan had a simple response. You ain't seen nothing yet.

There were only nine runs in the first 10 overs - and among them were five successive maidens. The run - if you can call not scoring a run - made an early start by half an hour almost needless. Why bother when the game just struggled to move on?

West Indies formed their second guard of honour of the Test as they welcomed Misbah after dismissing Younis Khan lbw for 18 off 75 balls. Then they outdid their generosity by dropping the Pakistan captain, playing his last Test, on 0. Squared up by a ball that shaped away, Misbah looked back to see his outside edge being dropped by Shane Dowrich. It was the wicketkeeper's second drop of the Test, and it left Holder, the bowler, buckling at the knees.

West Indies, for all their struggle to pick up wickets, did keep things quiet with the old ball. Eventually, Shannon Gabriel took the new one in the 89th over, which only provided a fresh signal for Pakistan to retreat further into their shell. Misbah had, at that point, uncoupled batting with scoring runs completely, at one stage having one run off 52 balls. Azhar at the other end finished the morning with 37 runs off 92 balls as Pakistan achieved their objective of not losing too many wickets.

After lunch, however, Azhar was undone attempting a rare attacking stroke, a slog sweep over midwicket. He missed the ball by some distance it spun back into his stumps, bringing to an end a grinding hundred that had looked like hard work. Flickering signs of aggression emerged from Asad Shafiq, as he looked to go over the top in a bid to improve his side's desperately poor run rate. However, he picked out long-on to give offspinner Roston Chase the third of his four wickets.

A better side than West Indies would probably have punished Pakistan for their approach on Thursday, and West Indies themselves may yet do so. But, Misbah has made an art of being a contrarian, and as he leaves the Test arena, don't bet against him proving everyone wrong one final time.


Day 3

Pakistan 376
West Indies 218/5 
West Indies trail by 158 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings


Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich kept West Indies from disintegrating in the last hour of an engrossing but slow-moving day, finishing up at 218 for five, still trailing Pakistan by 158 runs. Things had looked bleak for Holder's men when their best batsman Roston Chase walked off midway after being struck on the elbow by a Mohammad Amir bouncer, but the others pulled their weight stoically enough to ensure they could claim a share of the spoils.

West Indies didn't lose any of their grit with Hope's dismissal at the stroke of tea. For little over an hour after the break, they frustrated Pakistan before Vishaul Singh, who has had a torrid first series, probably went a little too deep into his shell, especially against the faster bowlers. Even so, it was admirable to see the rookie fight it out on the pitch under considerable pressure although Misbah-ul-Haq was perhaps guilty of making it a little too easy for him, carrying on with the part-time of Azhar Ali from one end.

With the hosts fighting so gamely, the moment that turned the session against them was an exceptionally cruel twist of fate. The new ball was just three overs old When Mohammad Amir hurried Roston Chase into a pull shot, the ball striking him flush on the elbow. After lengthy treatment on the field, the series' highest run-scorer was forced to retire hurt.

For a Pakistan team that had been unable to penetrate in the session up till then, it would have seemed like a wicket. Vishaul succumbed two overs later to - predictably enough - pace. Mohammad Abbas swung the new ball in sharply to trap him plumb in front. Suddenly the West Indies looked vulnerable again, trailing as they did by 200 runs.

Fortunately for the West Indies, Holder and Dowrich showed the same determination to ensure they didn't go in to stumps having suffered any other blows in the face of a masterclass in discipline from the Pakistan pacers. Amir, in particular, continued to carry menace with the sort of short delivery that had injured Chase, striking Holder in the chest area once, and cramping both batsmen with the bouncer time and again.

West Indies started the day in the sort of sedate fashion that has characterised much of this Test match, meandering along at a scoring rate well below two per over; only one boundary came in the first 25 overs. The day only came to life when Powell decided to take the attack to Yasir, but after shuffling across and sweeping him to the vacant square leg boundary once, he dragged a lofted hit to Azhar Ali at deep midwicket.

Shimron Hetmyer came out with the same plan of not allowing Yasir to settle. He drove Yasir for a boundary in the first over he faced him, and soon after, dispatched a short delivery for six over deep midwicket. But the wily legspinner had the last laugh again, getting one to turn in sharply from the rough, kissing Hetmyer's gloves with Sarfraz Ahmed taking a sharp catch. Pakistan may have not had the wicket had Sarfraz not confidently signalled for a review almost the moment umpire Bruce Oxenford adjudged not out.

Even so, West Indies still looked for scoring opportunities off Yasir, who ended the day having conceded nearly half the runs of the entire innings. It wasn't that he was bowling poorly - a lot of his balls were perfect legspinners with sharp turn - but his consistency deserted him, prompting a rare reprimand from Misbah. Yet, it didn't seem like he was far away from a wicket either.

That duly arrived in the last over before lunch when Brathwaite, who looked fairly comfortable up until then, jabbed at a delivery that spun away sharply to take the edge through to the wicketkeeper. The deadlock of the first hour was well and truly broken by then.

As in the first session, it was impossible to ignore the feeling that that the game was moving on only while Yasir was bowling. Ironically, it was Azhar Ali who pulled things back for Pakistan during the afternoon, taking the only wicket in the session off its last ball, with Hope slicing to Misbah at short cover.

It was a game that could have been snatched away from the West Indies in every session today. That they managed to hold Pakistan off and ensure they go in to day four still able to claim parity must feel like a small win in itself.


Day 4


Pakistan 376 & 174/8d
West Indies 249 & 7/1
West Indies require 297 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 2nd innings


On the first three days in Roseau, a total of 15 wickets fell. On the fourth, fourteen batsmen succumbed as the deciding Test between West Indies and Pakistan burst into life. With the hosts needing 304 to win, all three results are just about possible, in the game, and by extension, the series.

The start of the evening saw West Indies strike the perfect notes, Alzarri Joseph getting rid of the last two recognised batsmen, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq. With Pakistan 90 for 7, the lead just over 200 but well below what would make Misbah-ul-Haq feel comfortable, Jason Holder's men might have sniffed the possibility of a sensational win.

But that was before Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah put together a gutsy 61-run stand that steered Pakistan out of troubled waters and could well have batted West Indies out of the contest. Yasir continued haunting his opposition as he picked up a wicket off what became the last ball of the day.

Misbah and Younis Khan would be quietly confident that they can retire from Test cricket with the honour spearheading Pakistan to their first series win in the Caribbean. Finishing their careers with scores of 2 and 35 respectively in exchange for that seems like a pretty good trade off. Both men were welcomed back to the pavilion one last time by a set of grateful team-mates lined up in a guard of honour.

All that emotion had to be kept aside, however, during the last hour and a half of play. Pakistan did so and as a result enjoyed complete domination. Yasir, who was caught off a no-ball, and Amir, who was drawn into a few verbal arguments, swung merrily during the final five overs of the innings to ransack 47 runs. Then came the declaration.

The West Indies openers were left with the unenviable task of batting out the day's last 25 minutes against the new ball. They hung in bravely right till the final over, but Yasir had one final blow to land and Shan Masood helped out by staying low at silly point and diving to his right to pull off a remarkable catch to dismiss Kieron Powell.

The day began with Pakistan skittling West Indies' last five wickets out within the first hour. Mohammad Abbas was chiefly responsible for the damage, taking his first five-wicket haul to give Pakistan a seemingly impregnable lead of 129. There was still time for Pakistan to bat seven overs before lunch would be taken but they were rather tentative during that period, scoring just eight runs, while losing two wickets.

Azhar Ali slashed a short, wide delivery to point and Babar Azam followed him off the last ball of the session, edging to short leg. The third umpire was called in to check if the ball had carried to the close-in fielder and though there were visuals that seemed to indicate the ball had kissed the ground before going into Shimron Hetmyer's hands, Richard Kettleborough went with the on-field official's soft signal of out.

The second session brought Misbah and Younis - the most prolific batting partnership in Pakistan's Test history - together at the crease for one final time. It wasn't the fairytale ending - 8 runs off 28 balls - and the team was back in trouble again but nothing could divert attention away from Misbah as he walked off the field one last time with bat in hand.

Younis appeared in good form, moving his feet adeptly, rotating the strike without any trouble even on a slow pitch. Aside from that, he ushered his protégé Shan Masood through some tough times early in the innings but after struggling to cope with his weakness outside the off stump, Masood was trapped lbw by Shannon Gabriel for 21 off 68 balls.

That brought Misbah to the crease and there was hope that the pair could combine for one last hurrah, a flourish to remember them by, one for the road, whatever you wished to call it. However, while imaginations took off, the run-rate did not.

Misbah probably felt it too, and tried to rectify it the way he knew best. Devendra Bishoo flighted one up to him, and he couldn't resist one final slog sweep over long-on. It was poorly miscued, flying straight up in the air, and Shane Dowrich took a comfortable catch. Pakistan's longest-serving captain's innings was played. Younis fell off the last ball before tea, top-edging a full toss to Kieron Powell at short fine leg, who ran to his left and secured a tumbling, one-handed catch. And so ended a grand era.


Day 5

Pakistan 376 & 174/8d
West Indies 247 & 202 

Pakistan won by 101 runs


Dominica bid farewell to two legends of the game in a most fitting manner, giving Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq the most heart-stopping send-off possible.

History beckoned time and again, torturing and teasing them. It made them wait, it made them wonder, it made them despair. But, with six balls left in the game, the series, and their careers, came perhaps its most satisfying moment.

Shannon Gabriel, West Indies' No. 11, had spent just over half an hour at the crease, and had seen out 21 balls. See out one more, and it would leave Roston Chase, who was batting on 101, to face the last over of the match, the last over of the series, and dramatically raise West Indies' chances of saving the Test.

Gabriel had kept out those 21 balls by trusting his defence, but now, in one of the most inexplicable moments in Test cricket's history, he swung wildly, madly at Yasir Shah. The ball took his inside edge and rattled into off stump, sealing one of the greatest days in Pakistan's cricket history.

This side - Misbah's side - had done what Hanif Mohammad couldn't do, what Javed Miandad couldn't do, what Imran Khan couldn't do. He had led his side to its first ever series victory in the Caribbean, a 101-run win sealing his - and Younis' - careers with aplomb. Test cricket certainly has a way of rewarding its own.

Pakistan looked like they would make short work of the final session when, three overs in, Hasan Ali brought an end to Jason Holder's obdurate resistance. It left West Indies seven down with only the tail to give Roston Chase company.

With the pitch playing extremely slowly, what Hasan did to dismiss him might even have been an intentional ploy. He took the surface out of the equation, hurling a fierce inswinger that made a beeline for leg stump on the full. Holder made a mess of trying to keep it out, and was plumb in front.

But just as Pakistan began to envisage victory, Bishoo and Chase had designs on a grand resistance. They split the work brilliantly, with Bishoo keeping out Yasir Shah and Chase negotiating the faster bowlers, and Pakistan struggled to break that pattern. Ultimately Misbah resorted to pace from both ends, and Bishoo's discomfort against the seamers eventually cost him his wicket, as he fended a Mohammad Abbas bouncer to silly point.

Chase had been sensational all series, and it would be churlish to take any credit away from him. But he led a charmed life in the last session and you couldn't help wondering if he was destined to save the game. On two occasions, Hasan Ali dropped him off his own bowling, and when Abbas had him caught in the slips, replays showed he had just overstepped. When Chase drove Mohammad Amir down the ground for an exquisite boundary to bring up his hundred, you could sense the stadium felt it too.

Whenever a wicket fell, there was a sense that the resistance had finally ended. But Alzarri Joseph picked up from where Bishoo left off, and then Gabriel took over from Joseph. Between them, West Indies' Nos. 9, 10 and 11 spent 99 balls at the crease, while scoring 12 runs. Runs had simply ceased to matter by then.

The morning session had been dominated by Pakistan, who made significant inroads towards a series win, dismissing Kraigg Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope, and exposing the hosts' middle order in the first hour.

Brathwaite was the first to fall, playing an unseemly shot after getting caught in two minds over what to do with a short Yasir delivery. The ball stuck in the pitch, and Brathwaite spooned it to point.

But the hammer blow was yet to come, with Hetmyer's bête noire coming back to snare him one final time. Mohammad Amir got one to tail in to Hetmyer, just as he has done all series. The youngster looked to drive on the up, missing the ball completely. He must now be sick of the sight of his off stump sent cartwheeling.

Hasan pushed West Indies further back against the wall with a dream delivery to capture his first Test wicket. Having maintained a disciplined, good length all Test, he changed it up in the most unexpected way, hurling an inswinging yorker destined for Hope's toes. The batsman was unable to get his bat down in time, and the lbw call was so obvious Chase told Hope not to bother with a review.

Two overs into the afternoon, Vishaul Singh - the closest thing to a walking wicket this series - succumbed to a classic Yasir Shah trap. The legspinner pitched the ball into the rough, and the left-hander failed to judge the turn. His inside edge flicked the pad, popping up to Babar Azam at short leg for a simple catch.

Shane Dowrich fell to the same bowler, and the same fielder, although his wicket was altogether more controversial. His attempt to flick Yasir against the turn looped up to short leg off pad - before which there may or may not have been a tickle of inside edge - and the umpire Bruce Oxenford adjudged him out. Dowrich reviewed immediately, but lengthy replays turned up no conclusive evidence either way, and the decision was upheld. It was a piece of misfortune the West Indies could have done without, in truth.

But despite all that, West Indies had it in control. Then came Gabriel's moment of madness, and Misbah went beserk. Cool and calm? What are you on about?



2nd Test:

Day 1


West Indies 286/6 (89.0 ov)
Pakistan


A day that started with ominous familiarity for the West Indies ended in unexpected success as the hosts recovered from a middle order meltdown to post 286 for 6 at stumps. Roston Chase was primarily responsible for the turnaround, an unbeaten 131 - just his second century - dominating the day, while Jason Holder's unbeaten fifty helped run Pakistan ragged in a final session off which they scored 120.

Chase's awareness around the crease was excellent, knowing exactly when to leave the ball. He was equally effective at adjusting his feet when facing the spinners, and was in position to take advantage when they dropped the ball either short or bowled full. The stroke that brought up his century was a fitting snapshot of how he had played: a delightful cover drive off an overpitched delivery from legpinner Shadab Khan, who had a particularly harsh introduction to the longest format. In the absence of Yasir Shah for most parts of the final session, he was summoned but failed to ring in any sort of consistency.

The evening session began, somewhat familiarly, with Holder joining Chase to play his part in yet another rearguard. With the West Indies top and middle order disappointing so regularly, Holder's runs in the lower order have become essential to his side, rather than just an added bonus. To his credit, he delivers more often than not, and he gave Chase stellar support.

With Yasir clearly hampered by a back niggle and unable to bowl at full tilt, Pakistan were at times reduced to being a three-man attack. Chase and Holder were wise to the situation, ensuring they didn't give a wicket away easily and waited for the bowlers to tire. As they did, their intensity invariably dropped and for the first time all day, Pakistan looked like they were waiting for a wicket to fall instead of actively hunting for one.

West Indies had perhaps expected an easier ride after winning the toss and choosing to bat in favourable conditions, but a splendid new ball spell from both Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Abbas put them on the back foot straightaway. The wicket of Kraigg Brathwaite, when it came, had a sense of inevitability to it, the right-hander edging an Amir delivery that held its line. When Shimron Hetmyer fell flashing at a ball outside off stump soon after, the lack of experience was telling.

With the pitch seen as conducive to spin bowling, Misbah-ul-Haq turned to Yasir as early as the eleventh over. There was sharp turn on offer for the legspinner right away, hardly a ringing endorsement of the wicket, what with this being the first morning of the Test. But with the under-fire Shai Hope having gone into his shell, Yasir pitched one on a length around middle stump. Hope failed to get on the front foot in time, and the ball took the edge through to Sarfraz Ahmed as West Indies slumped to 37 for 3.

Amir provided Pakistan the next breakthrough, ripping a yorker into Powell's toes that tailed in at serious pace, taking the slow pitch out of the equation. The umpire turned down the appeal, but Amir was sure, and Hawk-Eye agreed with him. Wickets continued to fall as West Indies threatened to fold for a sub-200 total, as the hosts were reduced to 154 for 6. The players went in for tea soon after; the fans will probably have needed something stronger.

What they couldn't have known was Chase and Holder would concoct the perfect tonic to soothe their disappointment in the final session, as the West Indies improbably finished the day on even terms. With the partnership standing at 132, and still unbeaten, the fans had better turn up tomorrow, too. They certainly haven't seen this before.


Day 2

West Indies 312
Pakistan 172/3 (69.0 ov)
Pakistan trail by 140 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings


There was no knockout punch today, more gradual asphyxiation. As genuine moments of excitement and drama came few and far between, Pakistan, quietly and ruthlessly, wrapped the West Indies in a bear-hug and slowly squeezed the life out of them. There was some exceptionally generous bowling - Ahmed Shehzad made 70, having been gifted three lives - but Pakistan were efficient enough to capitalise on those mistakes, and end day two in a commanding position.

West Indies eventually perked up halfway into final session, taking three wickets for six runs to send Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq back into their shell. But with an opening batsman not out on 81, alongside a captain who loves a firefight, there was a lot of work left to do for Jason Holder's men.

For now, though, they can be relieved that they were even able to take wickets. Devendra Bishoo extracted an outside edge from Shehzad to have him caught at slip with the score at 155. The Pakistan batsman had enjoyed a charmed life at the crease; he had a catch dropped as early as the third over, and was dismissed twice off deliveries that turned out to be no-balls. Shannon Gabriel was the first culprit, Roston Chase was the other. Shehzad made the most of it, but the question of whether he has returned to form is very much up for debate. He went through periods in his innings where run-scoring almost screeched to a halt; at one point, he made three off 59 balls.

West Indies were buoyant when they followed up Shehzad's wicket with those of Babar Azam and Younis Khan, the heir-apparent and the master. You would have to search far and wide to find a Younis dismissal off a poorer delivery than the one that felled him for a duck in Bridgetown. Bishoo bowled a classic long hop, and the batsman gave it the whack it was begging for, only he picked out short midwicket. Azhar and Misbah then went into power down mode, scoring 11 runs off their 58-ball partnership, ensuring there was no further damage.

The day began with a couple of wickets that were mirror images of each other. Holder attempted leave when a shot should have been played, and Chase attempted a shot when the ball was better off being left. But the effect of their dismissals was the same; it wrenched all the momentum the home side had built up over a painstaking 132-run partnership, putting them back to the place they are so dreadfully familiar with: square one.

A breezy partnership between Alzarri Joseph and Bishoo ensured the West Indies made it past 300 but the optimism with which they had begun the day had long since evaporated. Mohammad Abbas - the most successful bowler today - got rid of Bishoo soon after. Yasir Shah cleaned up Joseph next over, and West Indies found themselves shot out for 312.

The Pakistan openers then consolidated their position of strength, although the cricket they played to get there fell some way short of attractive. Azhar and Shehzad combined for a century partnership, buying themselves precious time after coming in for sharp criticism for their lack of runs in the first Test. Some of their watchfulness was down to disciplined bowling from the West Indian quicks, although it was noteworthy that the sustained pressure never really felt like spilling over into a wicket.

The pitch showed signs of wear and tear, and the resulting variable bounce meant the batsmen could never completely get their eye in. There were balls that the openers found themselves having to dig out from ankle length, while the footmarks outside the off stump gave wings to the offbreaks pitching into them. The abrasiveness of the surface impacted the ball too, scuffing it up so badly that it had to be changed twice. Even so, Azhar and Shehzad found ways to hang on, and though it wasn't always pretty, it certainly was pretty effective.

The three wickets late in the day might have given the hosts some hope, but unless they can continue where they left off tomorrow, they might find themselves toiling in the field yet again.


Day 3


West Indies 312 & 40/1 
Pakistan 393
West Indies trail by 41 runs with 9 wickets remaining


A slow but steady hundred from Azhar Ali, and Misbah-ul-Haq's 99, ensured Pakistan tightened their grip on the Bridgetown Test. After they secured a lead of 81 in response to West Indies' 312 on a deteriorating pitch, fast bowler Mohammad Abbas had Kieran Powell caught behind. West Indies ended the day trailing by 41.

The hosts had built up some momentum before tea, when they claimed three wickets for 13 runs, but they squandered it by allowing Pakistan's tailenders to make sizeable contributions in a game where batting in the second innings is expected to get significantly harder.

Jason Holder bowled an incisive spell, and along with Shannon Gabriel, had Pakistan seven down at tea for a lead of 17. Any hope of bowling them out swiftly, however, were dismissed by wayward bowling at the start of the final session. West Indies gave away three sets of byes that went for four down leg side. They were runs that, in this context, were such a gift they might as well have had a bow on them.

In all Pakistan added 64 runs, of which Yasir Shah scored 24. With Gabriel and Holder chipping away, Pakistan's lead had not become unassailable but the early loss of Powell meant West Indies would begin day four on the back foot.

The third day had begun with Misbah and Azhar in survival mode, scoring 54 runs in 26 overs on a pitch too slow to offer encouragement to the quicks. The likeliest route to a breakthrough was through the cracks spread across a misbehaving surface with variable bounce.

The second session was more lively, as if the teams had an epiphany over lunch that Test cricket in 2017 was supposed to be different to the kind they had displayed in the morning. Misbah was responsible for the injection of pace into the innings as Pakistan's batsmen looked more comfortable against spin at both ends.

Misbah broke the shackles when he swung freely for a six over long-on. The Pakistan captain looked good for a hundred, after being stranded on 99 in Kingston. However, he fell agonisingly on the same score again when a Holder delivery reared up to smash his gloves and loop to gully. What followed was a manic 20 minutes in which Pakistan went from 316 for 4 to 329 for 7.

Azhar brought up his 13th Test hundred shortly after, with a cut past backward point for four. However, Devendra Bishoo was beginning to find his range, and beat Azhar's bat from around the wicket on more than one occasion. Eight overs in, he found the outside edge with a sharp legbreak, breaking a 98-run partnership that took over 42 overs.

Misbah, though, continued to play in a liberated mood, sweeping well and even bringing out the reverse sweep to neutralise the spinners' leg-stump line. As a result, the runs began to flow, with 67 runs coming off 15 overs of spin. By then, Pakistan were ticking off milestones: the 300, the 50-partnership between Asad Shafiq and Misbah, and then going past West Indies' first-innings total.

However, it will be the one that got away - by one run yet again - that will likely remain memorable, as Misbah became the first man in Test cricket to have three scores of 99.

The mini-collapse that followed Misbah's dismissal was West Indies' best spell of the game so far. If they are to fight back once again during this Test, they will have to produce a better one with the bat on the fourth day.


Day 4

West Indies 312 & 264/9 (102.0 ov)
Pakistan 393
West Indies lead by 183 runs with 1 wicket remaining


It was a memorable day of Test cricket at the Kensington Oval, but for West Indies, it was a cruel finish. After all, West Indies - led by a resolute 90 from Shai Hope that lasted over five hours - made Pakistan's bowlers graft and toil for the majority of the day, but the defining period will be five minutes of chaos that saw his side lose three wickets in eight balls for one run. It might yet lose them a game they have grated their way back into on more than one occasion, but with the lead already 183 with one wicket in hand, the Test is still alive. Yasir Shah claimed another six-wicket haul to lead Pakistan's fightback in the final hour.

With West Indies leading by 154 runs with six wickets still in hand, thoughts may already have been turning to an early declaration on the final day. But all of a sudden, Hope sought to cover drive a flighted Yasir delivery through the air, perfectly picking out Azhar Ali at cover. The next ball saw Vishaul Singh, the other set batsman, drag an inswinging delivery from Mohammad Abbas onto his stumps. Six deliveries on, Jason Holder poked at one from Yasir, and even as the light eroded, Younis Khan was never going to drop that.

There was still enough time for West Indies' last recognised batsman - Shane Dowrich - to edge one that ballooned up for an easy catch to second slip. Yasir dismissed Alzarri Joseph soon after to take his innings tally to six, and West Indies' hard work crumbled.

They had begun the final session with the resoluteness that characterised their batting all day. The runs, which had begun to flow a little too freely, dried up after tea as Misbah operated spin from both ends, waiting for the new ball. The likelihood of a wicket seemed to recede with both Vishaul and Hope looking increasingly comfortable, and West Indies began to take hold of the game. Shadab came closest to a breakthrough with an lbw shout against Vishaul that Pakistan decided to review, only to be thwarted by the on-field umpire's call. As a result, the breakthrough Yasir provided through Hope's moment of ill-judgment will seem even more fateful, coming as it did at a time when the hosts were looking to bat Pakistan out of the game.

Momentum in the first session had fluctuated, a half-century partnership between Kraigg Brathwaite and Hope steering West Indies into the lead. West Indies got off to a terrible start, having added only one run to their overnight score when Shimron Hetmyer, who had looked convincing on the third evening, was dismissed by Mohammad Amir. The manner of the wicket was identical to his dismissal in Jamaica, the ball seaming back in sharply to crash into the stumps.

Hope and Brathwaite batted more positively after coming together, but just as it looked like West Indies might creep into the ascendancy once more, Brathwaite was undone by a combination of vicious spin from Yasir and staggering reflexes from Younis. Yasir pitched one well outside leg stump from around the wicket, which spun sharply across and clipped the shoulder of his bat. Younis dived to his right with agility and reflexes that belied his age, holding on to a splendid one-handed catch that could end up being as crucial as any runs he scores this game.

The afternoon session was a cagey affair as Yasir resumed the session by bowling around the wicket again to exploit the rough, while Roston Chase and Hope kept him at bay. Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Amir kept chipping away laboriously from the other end, as Misbah appeared reluctant to trust a misfiring Shadab with runs at a premium. But it was Yasir's persistence from around the wicket that finally paid off for Pakistan when he drew Chase into driving him on the up. Chase hadn't been able to get to the pitch of the ball, and the drive came straight back to Yasir for an easy catch, giving Pakistan a breakthrough they needed badly.



Day 5


West Indies 312 & 268
Pakistan 393 & 81 (34.4 ov)
West Indies won by 106 runs


Twenty years ago, a West Indies side, led by Brian Lara, set India 120 for victory at the Kensington Oval. They had never lost a Test in Bridgetown to a subcontinental side, but that record looked in serious threat against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. West Indies took just 35.5 overs to skittle the visitors out for 81 to extend a glorious run at their stronghold.

Fast forward to 2017 and a completely different West Indies side, both in personnel and prestige, took on another subcontinental powerhouse, Pakistan, at the same venue. West Indies were dominated for most parts of four days, but Shai Hope's 90 that set a 188-run target helped script a remarkable turnaround.

On the final day, Shannon Gabriel took five wickets in a hostile spell as a Pakistan were skittled for that cursed score of 81. This Barbadian fortress might have creaked, but it certainly did not tumble as the hosts put in an inspired bowling performance to level the series.

Pakistan found their legs turning to jelly in a chase of 188 on a pitch that had shown signs of deterioration from very early in the Test. They played for the fear of demons on the pitch, and paid the price. Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad's conservative approach - they scored six in the first six overs of the chase - set the tone.

Azhar was the first to fall, attempting to pull a short delivery from Gabriel over midwicket, unwisely trusting the bounce. He mistimed the shot horribly, sending it straight down midwicket's throat. Babar nicked down leg two deliveries later to record his first pair in Tests. That one of Pakistan's brightest prospect was undone by an innocuous delivery could arguably be seen as the wicket that opened the floodgates.

More misery awaited Pakistan as Younis was consumed shortly after. Jason Holder banged one in slightly short of a good length, well outside off stump. As Younis shaped up, it darted back in, kept low and made a beeline for his pads. The hapless Younis could only watch as it struck him dead in front of middle.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq both came and went within minutes of each other, their wickets brought about by Gabriels' brilliance. Misbah got a thick inside edge that lobbed to gully, but West Indies may have not had the wicket if they didn't review, for the original appeal was for lbw. Two balls later, Asad Shafiq's poke was taken on the third attempt by Kieran Powell, who earlier reprieved Ahmed Shehzad, at first slip.

The procession continued after lunch as Shehzad and debutant Shadab Khan fell within three overs of the resumption. Shehzad was unfortunate, falling to a delivery from Joseph that was almost a replica of the ball that accounted for Younis, but Shadab - whose introduction to Test cricket has been less spectacular than his limited overs debuts - was removed by a delivery that held its classical off stump line. Shadab could only nick to the wicketkeeper.

Sarfraz and Mohammad Amir then counter-attacked to take Pakistan past their lowest ever score of 49. But even an optimist couldn't have been so blind to notice that the pair were riding their luck, and when Amir sliced a drive into the hands of point, it was a wicket that had been coming all along.

There was still time for Shannon Gabriel to clinch a richly deserved five wicket haul with the perfect fast bowler's delivery. It pitched on off stump and clipped the top of off, and batsmen better than Yasir Shah would have done well to keep that out. The knockout blow came next over as Sarfraz lofted the opposition skipper Holder to wide long-on, with Roston Chase stationed there for precisely that shot.

The man who had got West Indies' fightback started with a first innings century made no mistake, but Pakistan, dazed and shell-shocked after a remarkable morning's cricket from the hosts, had plenty of theirs to rue.