Pakistan captain, Babar Azam notched up a half century as his side ended their first warm up match at the National Stadium, Providence yesterday.
With a full day’s play ahead of the two-Test series versus West Indies in Jamaica, Azam continued his purple patch, spending almost two hours in the middle after Pakistan decided to start over their innings, closing day two on 211 for seven after 80 overs.
Azam’s 88-ball innings was one of belligerence from the get-go. He came off the mark with consecutive boundaries, racing to 54, his innings decorated by 10 boundaries before retiring.
Mohammad Rizwan on the other hand was given a second chance after being bowled by Faheem Ashraf for 11 and added 33 more to his tally. He stroked seven fours during his time at the crease but his stay was ended when he was bowled by Haris Rauf 30 minutes before the end of the day.
Rizwan had shared in an even 50-partnership with Fawad Alam who was persistent, scoring 33 from 98 balls and spending 150 minutes at the crease before retiring.
Abid Ali, got another start with a 62-ball 29 after his 90-minute watch but was trapped leg before wicket by Ashraf who picked up 2-14 from his 11 overs.
Imran Butt was undone by Mohammad Abbas (2-20) on two occasions for one and six while Azhar Ali managed 14 and 12 in his two innings, spending a total of two hours in the middle where he faced 89 balls.
Rauf, though only bowling four overs late in the day, was impressive as he also took the wicket of Ashraf who was bowled for a duck to end with 2-11.
Shaheen Afridi toiled throughout the day but reaped his reward with the wicket of Azhar Ali with a delivery that pitched outside off stump and nipped back in enough to clip the bails.
Pakistan will now head to Jamaica for the first Test on Thursday. The second Test will bowl off on August 20.
