West Indies batters exhibited impressive early resistance in the face of Pakistan’s spin attack as they continued piling up runs on the scoreboard on the turning Multan Cricket Stadium pitch on Sunday, before home-side bowlers found their form back.

The Windies led the match by 138 runs for 5 at lunch, thanks to skipper Kraigg Brathwaite’s stellar half-century in the second innings, on the heels of a low-scoring first innings game.

Initially, the hosts look somewhat troubled for most of the wickets remaining intact, contrary to their expectations viewing how the pitch behaved earlier.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan won the first Test at the same venue by 127 runs, in a match that ended within three days — the shortest completed men’s Test match in Pakistan.

It was only after Mohammad Rizwan stumped out Brathwaite (52) off Noman Ali that Pakistan resumed the streak of bagging wickets.

Opener Mikyle Louis was routed cheaply for 7 by Noman at the beginning. Amir Jangoo (30) stood his grounds with the skipper until before Sajid Khan trapped him.

Then, Kavem Hodge (15) was also stumped by Rizwan off Noman, who lbw out Alick Athanaze (6) as well at the close of the first session.

The opening day was also dominated by spinners, with Noman Ali achieving a hat trick for the home side during his impressive 6-41 spell.

Jomel Warrican claimed 4 wickets for 43, while Gudakesh Motie contributed with 3 for 49, as Pakistan were dismissed for 154 in their first innings, in response to the West Indian total of 163.

The West Indies were earlier bowled out at the stroke of lunch after 41.1 overs, having opted to bat first.

However, the visitors retaliated with a remarkable display of spin bowling, as 16 wickets fell to spinners — the highest number of such dismissals on the opening day of a Test match.

The previous record of 14 wickets by spinners was set during a match between England and South Africa at Leeds in 1907.

Only Mohammad Rizwan (49) and Saud Shakeel (32) batted with confidence for the home side, adding 68 for the fifth wicket before Pakistan slumped from 119-4 to 154 all out — losing the last six wickets for 35 runs.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach dismissed openers Muhammad Hurraira (nine) and Shan Masood (15), while Motie sent back Babar Azam (one) and Kamran Ghulam (16) to leave Pakistan at 51-4.

In the post-tea session, Shakeel was smartly caught in the deep by Roach — who hurt his groin but completed the catch — while Rizwan was stumped, both falling to Warrican.

Left reeling

Motie had Salman Agha for nine while the last man Kashif Ali was run out without scoring.

Earlier, the West Indies were left reeling at 7-38 with Sajid Khan 2-64 and Noman doing the damage.

It could have been worse for the tourists had Motie — who top scored with a career-best 55 — not added an invaluable 68 runs for the last wicket with Warrican, who scored 36 not out with two sixes.

Motie also added 41 for the ninth wicket with Roach (25) to delay the lunch break before Noman grabbed the last two wickets for his eighth five-wicket haul in an innings.

Pakistan employed the same spin-heavy tactics which earned them a 127-run win in the first Test — also in Multan — with the ball turning from the first over.

Noman came on to bowl as the first change, and trapped West Indian skipper Kraigg Brathwaite leg before for nine to spark a collapse which saw the tourists slump from 32-2 to 38-8 off just 14 deliveries.

Noman dismissed Justin Greaves for one, then Tevin Imlach and Kevin Sinclair off successive deliveries to become the fifth Pakistan bowler to grab a Test hat trick.

Fast bowlers Wasim Akram (two hat tricks against Sri Lanka in 1999), Abdul Razzaq (against Sri Lanka in 2000), Mohammad Sami (also against Sri Lanka, in 2002), and Naseem Shah (against Bangladesh in 2020) achieved the feat for Pakistan previously.

Off-spinner Sajid dismissed debutant Amir Jangoo and Alick Athanaze — both without scoring — while Abrar Ahmed accounted for Kavem Hodge for 21.

Debutant pacer Kashif had Mikyle Louis for four in his first over.

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.