Pakistan are on verge of a Test match victory against West Indies, at Warner Park, Saint Kitts in the Caribbean, but skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, was not planning to relax until his team secures victory.
The visitors require five wickets whereas the Windies need 297 runs for victory on the final day’s play on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011. The two-match Test series is currently led by the hosts 1-0.
Misbah claimed, “It’s still a game of cricket, and we have to finish the game, unless it’s half the job done. We have not won the Test match yet. Until we have taken the final wicket, we have not won it yet”.
The 36-year old was pleased with his own performance and stated, “It is really, really good to score a Test hundred as a captain because the team is always looking towards you for something special. For your own confidence, and the sake of the team, it is really important that you chip in and perform at all stages of the game”.
The Men in Green had a bad start to the Test series, losing the first match by 40 runs. The team has not been able to ever win a Test series on Caribbean soil, but looked in a strong position to do so this time around.
However, things didn’t turn out exactly as Misbah and his men expected. The batting failed miserably and an inexperienced line-up hurt the team’s confidence badly.
Pakistan had a chance to level the series though and they came out strongly in the second game. Misbah elected to bat first after winning the toss and the visitors amassed 272 in their first outing, courtesy half-centuries from batsmen, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, and, Tanvir Ahmed.
West Indies were restricted to 223 in their first outing and only one batsman, Marlon Samuels, managed to take his score past 50. This gave a handy 49-run lead to the visitors and they capitalized on it in their second innings.
Opening batsman, Taufeeq Umar, and Pakistan’s captain, Misbah, scored tons, guiding their team to an overall lead of 426 runs.
It seemed as if the pitch had eased out for batting, but the hosts had already lost five wickets for just 130 runs in their chase.
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