
Following a poor start, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan came as saviours as Pakistan recovered well after losing early wickets on day one of the first Test against West Indies at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday, January 17. Despite the first four wickets falling at the score of 46 runs, Pakistan went on to reach 143/4 at the end of day one versus West Indies. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan scored respective fifties as Pakistan didn’t lose any more wickets for the rest of the day.
Coming to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan lost their first wicket at the score of 16 runs in 5.5 overs as debutant Mohammad Hurraire got out for six runs. After a couple of overs, skipper Shan Masood also lost his wicket on 11(29) runs, while Kamran Ghulam went back to the pavilion with just five runs to his name. Babar Azam also couldn’t stay at the crease for a long time, and got out after scoring eight runs off 20 deliveries.
Shakeel and Rizwan come up with respective half-centuries as Pakistan end day 1 on 143/4
Losing consecutive wickets at the start of the innings led to Pakistan getting reduced to 46/4 after 13.3 overs after play started four hours late in Multan due to heavy fog. Following that, Saud Shakeel and Mohammed Rizwan took charge of the innings, and didn’t let any wicket fall for the rest of the day. Shakeel and Rizwan put up an unbeaten and steady partnership of 97 runs as Pakistan finished day one 143/4 in41.3 overs.
Both Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan are still at the crease, and will resume Pakistan’s innings on day two. Shakeel scored 56*(100), hitting four boundaries, while Rizwan remained unbeaten on 51*(100) runs with seven boundaries. For West Indies, Jayden Seales took three scalps, while Gudekesh Motie put one in his bag.