West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite fell agonisingly short of a century but still steered his side to a 34-run lead over Pakistan before bad light brought a premature end to play on the second day of the first Test on Friday.
Brathwaite was run out for 97 shortly before the close as the hosts finished the day on 251 runs for eight wickets in their first innings, having resumed on their overnight score of 2-2.
With West Indies in trouble after being reduced to 100-5, Brathwaite anchored a rescue mission during a 96-run sixth-wicket partnership with Jason Holder.
Their effort took Windies close to Pakistan’s first innings tally of 217 after Holder was given a reprieve before he had even scored, an lbw decision being overturned when television reviews showed Shaheen Shah Afridi's delivery pitching just outside leg stump.
Holder made good use of the opportunity to go on and score 58.
The overturned decision denied Pakistan speedster Shaheen a third wicket in four balls after he had Jermaine Blackwood caught at mid on and then trapped Kyle Mayers lbw with his next ball for figures of 2-59.
Brathwaite, showing some anxiousness in the 90s, attempted a needless second run off the bowling of Yasir Shah as he approached his century and was caught well short when Hasan Ali’s direct throw hit the stumps.
“It was a misjudgement from me,” he said.
Pakistan’s hopes of quickly snagging the last three home wickets were stymied, despite taking the second new ball as the tail added 30 runs for the loss of just one more wicket, which was the third of the innings for Mohammad Abbas.
Joshua da Silva (20 not out) and Jomel Warrican (1) will resume on Saturday seeking to extend the home side’s lead.
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