West Indies eye series victory as Pakistan seek to halt away test slide

TRINIDAD: West Indies will look to clinch the two-match test series against Pakistan when the teams meet in Port of Spain after a commanding 90-run victory in the opener gave the hosts a 1-0 lead and exposed the visitors’ continuing struggles away from home.

The Caribbean side produced a disciplined all-round display in Tarouba, where their pace attack outperformed Pakistan’s seamers and capitalised on a batting lineup that once again faltered under pressure. The victory followed West Indies’ recent home series success over Sri Lanka and extended their unbeaten run in tests to three matches for the first time in more than four years.

While the West Indies batting remains a work in progress, the hosts have developed a balanced bowling attack combining experienced campaigners with emerging fast bowlers and reliable spin options. Their ability to remain patient, recover from difficult positions and seize key moments has been central to their recent improvement.

Pakistan, by contrast, head into the second test with mounting concerns after suffering an eighth successive away defeat. Despite reducing the first-innings deficit to 67 runs with seven wickets in hand in the series opener, they collapsed dramatically, losing their final 16 wickets for 109 runs to surrender control of the match.

The tourists will also be without captain Shan Masood, who has been ruled out after fracturing a finger during the first test.

Despite their recent struggles, Pakistan possess an experienced batting unit led by Babar Azam, while seamer Mohammad Abbas showed in the opening test that he remains capable of troubling the West Indies batsmen despite his modest pace.

The second test offers Pakistan an opportunity to salvage a series draw, but West Indies will start as favourites as they seek to continue their resurgence in the longest format.