PAKISTAN v WEST INDIES 1990-91

At Faisalabad, November 23, 24, 25. West Indies won by seven wickets. Toss: Pakistan. It took just three days for West Indies to square the series in conditions which provided movement through the air and off the seam for the fast bowlers. Only 25 runs separated the sides after the first innings, but a devastating spell of fast bowling by Marshall, who took four wickets in thirteen balls, precipitated a batting collapse which saw Pakistan crash from 145 for four to 146 for nine in their second innings. Needing 130 to win, West Indies lost their captain first ball, driving to cover, and in the seventeenth over they were 34 for three. From that point, however, Richardson and Hooper steered them to victory, 50 minutes after tea, with an unbroken partnership of 96.

Imran Khan's decision to bat first was never supported by his batsmen. Only Salim Malik's fighting 74 from 113 balls, with 40 runs in boundaries, lit a day shortened at one end by heavy dew and at the other by bad light. Malik shared stands of 47 with both Zahid Fazal, playing in his second Test, and the wicket-keeper, Moin Khan, who was making his Test début. Another newcomer, the left-handed opener, Saeed Anwar, had faced just five balls and was to collect a pair before the match was two days old.

West Indies made a sound start on the second day, going to lunch at 90 for two. But in the afternoon, unable to settle against the pace and swing of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, or the off-spin of Akram Raza, they could manage just 105 more runs as eight wickets fell. Only the last-wicket stand of 33 between Ambrose and Walsh gave West Indies, rather than Pakistan, the first-innings lead. Younis once again finished with five wickets, and in taking his 50th wicket in his tenth Test he reached this landmark faster than any Pakistan bowler before him. Stunned by the West Indian fast men before the close, Pakistan fought back next morning as Malik and Moin, the overnight pair, put on 89. Moin's was the one wicket to fall before lunch, but it was a different story afterwards.

Man of the Match: R. B. Richardson.

Close of play: First day, Pakistan 170; Second day, Pakistan 38-3 ( Salim Malik 16*, Moin Khan 0*).