Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Jason Holder praised the fight-till-the-last attitude in the first day-night Test, with Pakistan upstaging West Indies by 56 runs in the final hour on Monday.
West Indies were led in their fight by Darren Bravo, who smashed 116 during his 410 minutes of defiance, before Pakistan dismissed his side for 289 with just 12 overs remaining in the day-night match — only the second ever in Test cricket history.
Misbah said the match was good for Test cricket.
Photo: AFP
“It was a good Test and good for the Test cricket with everything in it,” Misbah said after the victory. “You need Test matches like that and credit to West Indies to put [up] such a fight.”
Pakistan had amassed 579-3 declared in their first innings courtesy of an epic 302 not out by opener Azhar Ali.
West Indies conceded a 222-run first-innings lead, but hit back hard by dismissing Pakistan for a paltry 123 in their second knock, thanks to a career best 8-49 by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.
Misbah praised Bravo for giving Pakistan a scare.
“[The] West Indies batsmen showed good resilience and credit must be given to them,” Misbah said of his rivals, who batted for 109 overs on the final day.
It was the longest batting by a West Indies team in the fourth innings of a Test since their 105.1-over innings against India in Kolkata in 1978.
Misbah admitted he was nervous and worried.
“I know how I spent time on the fourth day and in the last session on the last day. It was tough for the team as well as for the captain. You were ahead of them for three days, but in one session he [Bravo] gave the advantage to them,” Misbah said of the left-hander, who was smartly caught by leg-spinner Yasir Shah with just 83 needed.
Shah finished with seven wickets in the match and during first innings became the joint-second fastest to take 100 Test wickets.
Holder said there were positives, despite the defeat.
“Disappointed we have lost, but there are [a] lot of positives,” Holder said. “One thing is that we fought till the end and it was a good team effort, unfortunately we did not cross the line.”
Holder singled out Bravo’s knocks after he also made 87 in the first innings.
“It was a quality innings as he showed a lot of maturity in both innings and you could see determination on his face,” Holder said.
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