West Indies had a struggling start in the first innings of the first Test against Pakistan after they were reduced to 2/2, trailing by 215 runs before the stumps were called at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
Opener Kieron Powell was the first batsman who was sent back to the pavilion by Mohammad Abbas for a 6-ball duck while Nkrumah Bonner followed him for a golden duck on the very next delivery after, getting trapped in front of the stumps by Abbas. He returned with figures of 0/2 in two overs at the end of the day’s play.
Earlier, the visitors were bundled out for 217 after Jayden Seales and Jason Holder ran through the Pakistan batting line up. The two bowlers shared a total of six wickets between themselves.
Pakistan had a disappointing start to the proceedings as they lost Imran Butt for 11 after he was cleaned up by Kemar Roach. The visitors then lost wickets at regular intervals and were 101/5 when Fawad Alam and Faheem Ashraf steadied the Pakistan ship.
The two batters put on a stand of 85 runs for the sixth wicket before Ashraf departed for 44. The 35-year-old Alam went on to score 56 runs, which would also be his maiden half-century in Test cricket having previously scored four hundred in 11 matches. He was undone by Holder for 56. The pacer eventually returned with impressive bowling figures of 3/26 in 15.3 overs.
The right-hander talked about his preparations and performance after the first day.
“I had a few days to prepare (after white-ball cricket) and for me, it's just about getting my rhythm back in this format and it wasn't a bad transition, we had a good day as a bowling unit. It was slower than expected and we had to be a little fuller and make them play as much as possible,” he said.