Match reports

Pakistan v West Indies, 2016-17

Wisden's review of the third Test, Pakistan v West Indies, 2016-17

15-Apr-2017
At Sharjah, October 30-November 3, 2016. West Indies won by five wickets. Toss: Pakistan.
In the Caribbean, this is supposed to be the age of Twenty20, of maroon shirts and superstars, of Gayle and Sammy and Russell. But in the year Carlos Brathwaite broke Ben Stokes in the World T20 final, one of the finest performances in West Indies' history came from a little-known namesake, clad in white.
Kraigg Brathwaite, as slight as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, had not played a single 20-over game, even domestically, and only a handful of one-day internationals; red-ball cricket is his niche. Here, against one of the world's best attacks, he was immovable, becoming the first opener to be unbeaten in both innings of a Test, and only the fifth West Indian to carry his bat (though Desmond Haynes did it three times). And he inspired his team to their first win in 14, their first under Holder, and only their second - to set against 56 defeats - outside the Caribbean against a top-eight nation since the turn of the millennium.
It was the kind of heroism and history that deserved a grander stage than a dead rubber, in a lowkey series, in front of empty, low-rise stands. After the first-day discipline of the West Indian bowlers, Brathwaite batted eight hours for 142. For the first time in 14 Tests, West Indies had a first-innings lead. In the second, he stood firm while others wilted, refusing to believe - as many did - that his side would collapse in pursuit of a small target. Yet his presence in the game was somehow unobtrusive, lost amid the tenseness of battle. Over half his first-innings runs came in singles, mainly from nurdles and checked pushes all around the wicket. It was quiet accumulation in the finest tradition.
There were other heroes, not least the unstinting Gabriel, who got the Test off to a rollicking start with two wickets in the first over. His second victim, Asad Shafiq, was on his way to a second pair in five Tests (only the third top-six batsman to make two in a calendar year, after Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 and Mark Waugh in 1992). Bishoo was prominent as well, and between them they ensured Pakistan's first innings ended on an inadequate 281. Misbah-ul-Haq, leading them for a national-record 49th time in Tests, was one of four half-centurions. Perhaps most heartening was the contribution of Holder, who had taken much criticism during his tenure. In his 20th Test, he picked up a maiden five-for to bring about a second innings collapse. His medium-pace was never more than honest, but Pakistan continued their tradition of turning unassuming, and hitherto unsuccessful, bowlers into fleeting match-winners.
Finally, there was the wicketkeeper Dowrich, diminutive of stature but with the punch to make up for it. His counter-attacking vim complemented Brathwaite's gliding calm in partnerships that shaped both West Indian innings. In the first, their stand of 83 kept them in contention. In the second, when West Indies appeared to be choking at 67 for five in pursuit of 153, Dowrich hit 60 in an unbroken 87, including the last, slashed, four. It would have been fitting for Brathwaite to have the final say, yet it seems there will be no forgetting the name.
Man of the Match: K. C. Brathwaite. Man of the Series: Yasir Shah.