Bishoo puts Windes ahead on bowlers' day

Thirteen wickets went down on an action-packed second day at Providence which ended with West Indies ahead on a crumbling track. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo added to his burgeoning reputation with a probing debut spell that befuddled Pakistan's batsmen, giving West Indies a handy, and unexpected, first-innings lead.

If anyone was wondering whether the testing track had eased up since the first day, the answer was provided as early as the second over of the morning, when Saeed Ajmal's delivery barely reached ankle height, fizzing through the wicketkeeper's legs. That set the tone for a frenetic day when spin and bounce conspired to make life difficult for batsmen.

Pakistan were a happy side at lunch, having wrapped up the West Indies innings for 226, before creeping to 45 for 1 with some safety-first batting. Bishoo, though, showed what a threat he was going to be right after the break by getting his second ball to spit off the pitch and fly off Azhar Ali's edge past slip. In his next over, he got one to zip through low and Ali couldn't get close to it as he thought of a cut.

It was the more amiable bowling of Darren Sammy, though, that got the breakthrough, ending the dogged 52-run stand between Taufeeq and Ali. Sammy was getting the ball to dip in on occasion, but the wicket came off a delivery that went straight on; Taufeeq played around it and was struck in front of middle and leg. That ended Pakistan's largest partnership and signalled the start of the slump.

Misbah-ul-Haq survived a lbw call on 0 off an indipper from Sammy, but two overs later he became Bishoo's first Test victim. Bishoo slipped in a straighter one, which Misbah looked to play off the back foot - he missed and was so plumb that he contemplated walking off even before the umpire raised the finger. In the next over, Ali inexplicably left a delivery from Sammy that ducked in sharply from outside off, and was mortified to see it take off stump. The two wickets will provide the under-fire Sammy some respite from his many critics.

Asad Shafiq, another promising youngster from Pakistan, also didn't last long, trapped on the back foot by a flat legbreak from Bishoo, who got the lbw decision after referring it to the third umpire. 57 for 1 had become 66 for 5.

Pakistan's hopes of getting close to West Indies' score now depended on Umar Akmal, who began with a confident punch through cover for four. He had an entertaining battle with Bishoo, highlighted by the 32nd over. Even with the wickets tumbling, Akmal didn't shelve his strokes, shuffling down the track and thumping over long-on for four, and backing that up with a powerful cut past point for another boundary. An unfazed Bishoo responded by sliding in a quicker legbreak that easily beat Akmal.

Bishoo, bowling accurately with five fielders lying in wait for the edge, soon got his third wicket, with Mohammad Salman using up another referral after being adjudged lbw. Bishoo continued to produce the odd unplayable ball - combining turn and bounce to baffle the batsmen - but Abdur Rehman and Akmal survived till tea, putting on 33 to take Pakistan to 113 for 6. The final session began with several French cuts from Rehman, interspersed with some forceful hits, and despite the close calls, the pair put on 50 runs.

That was when Akmal had his seemingly mandatory brainfade. Looking to swipe a short ball, he top-egded it high and only as far as the wicketkeeper. Rehman picked up a few more boundaries to finish as the top-scorer, though the Pakistan tail couldn't put up the sort of fight West Indies' had. The home side's last-wicket pair battled gamely for eight overs on the morning, before Ajmal induced the inside-edge that brought him his five-for and best bowling figures in a Test.

Bishoo's control and subtle variations meant West Indies took the first-innings lead despite picking only one specialist spinner in the line-up. They still can't rest easy though, as they have already lost two early wickets. Devon Smith confirmed he is Mohammad Hafeez's bunny by being trapped lbw - the sixth successive innings that he has been dismissed by Hafeez - and Darren Bravo was caught on the crease by a straighter one from Ajmal.

There is still the small matter of negotiating the dreaded Ajmal doosra, which none of the West Indies batsmen pick consistently. After all the controversy over the past month, tomorrow will be the day for Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan to prove the worth of all that experience.