BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Bowling coach Roddy Estwick has called on West Indies to produce a massive fielding effort on today’s third day to prevent the second Test and the three-match series against Pakistan from slipping away.
West Indies were ragged on the second day here yesterday, losing their last four wickets for 26 runs to be all out for 312 in their first innings and then letting off opener Ahmed Shehzad three times as Pakistan reached 172 for three at the close at Kensington Oval.
“We’ve got to regroup. We didn’t have the best session between lunch and tea. We were a bit better bowling 30 overs for 60-odd runs after tea and getting three wickets which was a decent performance but we were very scrappy between lunch and tea,” Estwick told media following the day’s play.
“We will sit down in the morning and we’ll have a discussion and we’ve got to correct it and we’ve got to correct it quickly. We can’t allow Pakistan to get a lead because once Pakistan get a lead going into day three or four, it’s going to be very, very difficult so we’ve got to work really hard tomorrow.
“Also, we’ve got to learn from today, put today behind us and try and make sure we have a better day tomorrow.”
Shehzad was given a life on three when Vishal Singh grassed a catch at mid-on off fast bowler Shannon Gabriel with the score on five, in the third over of the Pakistan innings in the morning session.
He gained another reprieve on 21 when he was adjudged lbw to Gabriel off a no-ball and was let off yet again on 32, this time stumped off an illegal delivery from off-spinner Roston Chase.
Shehzad went on to make 70 in a 155-run opening stand with Azhar Ali who ended the day unbeaten on 81.
“I think we were very sloppy between lunch and tea and that’s an area we’ve got to improve,” Estwick lamented.
“We dropped one or two catches, we got wickets out with a no-ball. That’s a focus we’ve got to try and improve on because you can’t afford on a pitch like this – an unresponsive pitch to our seam bowlers – to make the kind of mistakes that we did between lunch and tea.
“We came back nicely between tea and close of play but before tea it was very disheartening to see the performance.”
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo accounted for Shehzad and veteran Younis Khan (0) to end with two for 53 while Gabriel took a return catch of a leading edge to account for Babar Azam without scoring, as Pakistan lost three wickets for six runs on the space of 23 balls in the final session.
But Estwick said every bowler needed to step up on Tuesday if West Indies were to prevent Pakistan taking a stranglehold on the game.
“All of the bowlers have got to come to the party, all the team have got to come to the party,” he urged.
“We’ve got to be prepared to work hard because as I said, it’s an unresponsive pitch for the pace bowlers but we’ve got to work hard, we’ve got to make sure we stay disciplined, the fielding has to be energized.
“It has to be a whole team effort tomorrow, a really big team effort [in order] not to let Pakistan get away from us.
