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Kraigg Brathwaite laments inability to adapt to spinning conditions

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Published in Cricket
Sunday, 19 January 2025 12:56
West Indian captain Kraigg Brathwaite did not ignore the elephant in the room, but did not hide behind it, either. He said straightaway that Pakistan "prepared a dry spinning pitch from day one", while acknowledging it was their right to do so, and challenging both his batters and his bowlers to adapt to it better in the second Test.

"We expect the same type of pitch in the second Test and we've got to come better," Brathwaite said at the post-Test press conference. "It was a difficult pitch to bat on for sure. But it's their decision how they want the pitch. We've just got to come good."

What encouraged Brathwaite was West Indies' ability to, for the most part, match their hosts toe-to-toe. While Sajid Khan and Noman Ali found themselves in the wickets, the best bowling figures of the Test belonged to West Indian left arm spinner Jomel Warrican, whose figures of 7 for 32 in the second innings are the third best ever by a visiting bowler in a Test in Pakistan. With the bat, too, West Indies' efforts of 137 and 123 weren't worlds removed from Pakistan's second innings score of 157, with a first innings fifth wicket stand of 141 between Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan the sharpest point of difference.

"It's great to see. Jamal has worked extremely hard over the years and it's good to see he got his first five-wicket haul. His hard work has paid off. He bowled well; he was consistent. I wish him all the best in his second test match.

"I do think we could improve bowling wise. We gave them 50-60 runs too much in the first innings because the pitch spun from ball one and we could have created enough pressure on the batters to get more wickets. Saying that, we also didn't bat as well as we could. I think Alick [Athanaze, whose fourth innings 55 was West Indies highest individual score] showed us today how easy it can be. You've got to be braver in your shot selection. But I think a better all-round performance and we could win the second Test."

With the pitch tricky and the Test match short, smaller differences were always going to prove decisive, and Brathwaite was keen to stress that, despite the margin of victory, he felt the disparity between the two sides was small. With Pakistan's strategy certain - both captains effectively confirmed they expected a similar turner for the second Test - which also takes place in Multan, starting on January 25 - surprise is not something that can catch West Indies out.

"I think we could be better with the ball in the first innings. We gave them 50 runs too much, and on top of that, we didn't bat as well as we could have, especially in the first innings. Both innings the top order didn't get any runs. So I think batting wise the top six should be able to bat at least a session.

"Pakistan only batted one session in their second innings, too, and I think bowling wise once we stay consistent in bringing batters onto the front foot, we'll have a better chance of limiting that first innings total. And we've got to bat better, we've got to find a better way."

While he didn't commit to that strategy, perhaps judicious aggression, a measure of which West Indies began to introduce into their batting as each innings wore on, is something West Indies might look to do more of next week. Some batters found the use of reverse sweeps from outside the line a fruitful scoring option, while West Indies' most destructive phase with the bat came when the tenth wicket partnership put on 46 in 21 balls, taking the spinners on when they flighted the ball.

"The ball was ragging, so one is going to have your name on it regardless. The pitch was difficult as you could see. It was very dry before even the game started. So I'm not surprised with the game finishing early."

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