Series decider Test starts in Antigua today

St John's (Antigua), May 24: With two drawn Tests behind them, both Pakistan and the West Indies will now be focused on the decisive third and final Test starting tomorrow (Thursday) here at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

Both captains, Moin Khan and Jimmy Adams, have promised positive cricket and one hopes that they do stick to their promise to produce a result in the series.

The first Test at Bourda in Guyana was marred by rain when the last two days of play was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Had the weather not intervened, Pakistan could have pulled off a win.

The second Test at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown produced heaps of runs with Yousuf Youhana, Wavell Hinds and Imran Nazir all making centuries and there were valuable innings by Mohammad Wasim, Abdur Razzaq and young Guyanese Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made an impressive unbeaten 84 on his debut.

There was a time when Pakistan could have taken the initiative to score freely and set a target for the West Indies to either save or win the match but 'play safety' tactics killed the Test on the last day as Pakistan dragged their second innings till after lunch, leaving little scope for a decision.

The St John's pitch has a long history of favouring batsmen and occasionally it has also been helpful to the bowlers. On five occasions in 14 Tests played at this venue scores of over 500 had been reached but the batting line-up of both the teams in the forthcoming Test is not that formidable to make huge scores.

West Indies have won five of the 14 Tests played here and had lost two. The small ground is best known for West Indian Brian Lara's record-breaking 375 against England in 1994. Pakistan, however, has played only one Test here on their previous visit to the Caribbean in 1993, which was marred by rain. Inzamam-ul-Haq, on that occasion, made his first of his ten Test centuries.

Fast bowlers have also flourished here. The only spinner to prosper here was Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, who took five for 34 in 1997. It will be interesting to see how well both Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq bowl on this track. A lot will depend on their bowling if any conclusive result is to be achieved in the next five days.

Both teams are likely to remain unchanged. But there are rumours around that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar may be a surprise inclusion.

The Pakistan captain Moin Khan is confident that there will be a result. "We will go all out for a decision. So far our team has shown that we have the ability to dominate even when under pressure and now our batsmen are making runs and the bowlers are bowling a good line."

Jimmy Adams, the West Indian captain, is much optimistic about his team's chances: "We played ourselves in a strong position despite losing three quick wickets on the final day of the second Test and we have the type of players who can dominate in any circumstances. I am looking forward to a result. We will play positive cricket."

Pakistan: Moin Khan (captain), Mohammad Wasim, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdur Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Arshad Khan.

West Indies: Jimmy Adams (captain), Sherwin Campbell, Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Curtly Ambrose, Reon King, Courtney Walsh, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Franklyn Rose.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (West Indies) and Doug Cowie (New Zealand).

TV umpire: Pat Whyte.