Pakistan can find no way past ‘West Indies Wall’ as Kraigg Brathwaite carries his bat in Sharjah

Stumps, third Test, Day 3

Pakistan 281 & 87/4 (39.0 ov)

West Indies 337

(Pakistan lead by 31 runs with 6 wickets remaining)

SHARJAH // With only a couple of days left before they board their onward flight to Zimbabwe, West Indies are on the verge of finally sampling success against Pakistan in the UAE.

After losing eight matches in a row against the same opposition over the past six weeks, they are in a commanding position after Pakistan’s bowlers failed to find a way through the “West Indies Wall”.

Kraigg Brathwaite, the opener, laid the platform for the push for victory, finishing on 142 not out, as West Indies earned a first innings lead of 56.

By carrying his bat through the innings, Brathwaite added his name to a list that previously had just four other entries in the illustrious history of West Indies cricket. The names are luminous ones: Frank Worrell, Conrad Hunte, Desmond Haynes and Chris Gayle.

See more on the third Test:

• Day 2: Big lead on West Indies' minds as Kraigg Brathwaite pushes for century against Pakistan

• Day 1: West Indies finally get some wind in their sails, improbably from Carlos Brathwaite

Two, in particular, resonate deeply with Brathwaite. Worrell, the first black captain of West Indies, is an alumnus of the same school in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Haynes, who achieved the feat of batting all the way through the innings three times in Tests, tipped Brathwaite for greatness when he was batting coach of the side at the turn of the decade.

Back then, Haynes told his Barbadian compatriot he wanted him to become the Caribbean version of Rahul Dravid, the Indian great know as “The Wall”.

In his 34th Test, this was just Brathwaite’s fifth century, but Jason Holder, the captain, reckons he is capable of “writing his name in the history books”.

“He has been doing this for a number of years,” said Holder, who played junior age-group cricket with Brathwaite growing up in Barbados.

“It is not just now he has started to score runs. I had an argument with a few people, years ago now, about how many Test matches he will play.

“He is going well, and I think he will be a mainstay in terms of the opening partnership for a long time if he continues to do what he’s doing.

“He has showed the world what he can bring. I just want to keep encouraging him to keep doing what he is doing, and write his name in the history books.

“He is one of the people you can see playing 100 Tests for the West Indies. He has what it takes to be a solid opening batsman, he has shown that.”

Holder said Brathwaite’s innings his inspired his own heroics with the ball on Day 3. Holder, who has endured a torrid time as captain and bowler in this series, took three for 10 as Pakistan were reduced to 48 for four.

“It was an excellent innings and he showed great character,” Holder said. “That is one of the things we have been asking for in the dressing room, and personally I was really inspired by his knock. It gave me the energy to do what I did this evening.”

Wahab Riaz took five wickets for Pakistan. Instead of being able to celebrate that, though, he was forced to defend his batsmen after another collapse.

They unravelled alarmingly in the second innings in Dubai, fell short of the first innings total they should have managed here, and lost four for 11 on the evening of Day 3.

“It’s not a same old story,” Wahab said of the implosion. “If you look back at our recent past, we either won or drew, and the credit goes to the batsman.

“They led us to win, so we can’t really blame the batsmen. It’s cricket and it happens sometimes.

“But West Indies did well. Wherever they put the ball, they were getting the wickets. It is also a good thing to happened ahead of New Zealand and Australia [where Pakistan play next] so that it will be in the back of our mind this can happen and we need to be on toes all the time.”

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