Adam’s family packs a punch

Captain Jimmy Adams was West Indies messiah as Brian Lara had been a year earlier against Australia at Bridgetown in that memorable Test win with an all too ironic identical result. Adams unbeaten 48 carried them to the magic number. Batting dourly for just under four hours on the last day, Adams shepherded the bottom-half of the batting to deny Pakistan their first series win in the Caribbean in five tries and maintain West Indies record of losing only once at home in the last 27 years.

A similarity from the previous year was the batsman at the other end. As a batsman, Courtney Walsh is more known for his World record number of noughts in Test cricket, but inexplicably he managed to bat through the last hour and 15 minutes to help Adams formalise the result.

Pakistan may argue that they had both batsmen in the dying stages of the match.

Appeals for close-to-the-wicket catches denied by both umpires Billy Doctrove and Doug Cowie, whose ruling on a bat-pad catch offered by Walsh off Saqlain Mushtaq appeared questionable. They also had a chance to break through when like Adams and Ambrose earlier in the day, the two batsmen ended up in the crease at the strikers end only for Adams to regain his ground after Saqlain failed to gather a return from the outfield at the bowlers end to effect a run out.

Adams and Walsh chipped away at the last 19 runs and, though Wasim Akram, the champion Pakistan left-arm fast bowler and eventual Man-of-the-Match, ended with his second five-wicket haul in the Test, they finally crossed the finish line to a cacophony of noise from the half-filled ground.

Four West Indies wickets in the morning, left the match dangling as it was at stumps on the previous day. West Indies crashed to 194 for eight at lunch with Adams left to bring it home alongside rabbits Reon King and Walsh.

Overnight 144 for four, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for West Indies to reach the target. The Pakistani bowlers, principally Wasim, offered them very little latitude to free themselves. West Indies were 177 for seven and, for close to 45 minutes, Adams and Ambrose batted circumspectly to gather 17 runs to get their side within sight of the psychological mark of 200 runs.

Playing his last match before his home crowd, Ambrose treated them to a towering six off Mushtaq over mid-wicket.

On the stroke of lunch however Ambrose played defensively forward to Saqlain and was struck on the back pad by a well-pitched delivery for umpire Cowie to adjudge him lbw.

SCOREBAORD

Pakistan: (1st innings) 269 & 219

West Indies: (1st innings) 273

West Indies (2nd innings; overnight 144-4): Sherwin Campbell c Youhana b Akram 6, Griffith c Waqar b Akram 23, Wavel Hinds b Akram 63, Shivnarain Chanderpaul lbw b Razzaq 31, Jimmy Adams not out 48, Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw b Akram 6, Ridley Jacobs run out 5, Frnanklyn Rose c Akram b Mushtaq 4, Curtly Ambrose lbw b Saqlain 8, Reon King b Akram 0, Courtney Walsh not out 4, Extras: (b8, lb7, nb3) 18; Total (for nine wickets in 91 overs) 216

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-31, 3-84, 4-144, 5-161, 6-169, 7-177, 8-194, 9-197.

Bowling: Akram 30-12-50-5; Waqar 11-0-39-0; Mushtaq 17-3-61-1; Razzaq 11-3-14-1; Saqlain 22-7-38-1

Man of the Match: Wasim Akram

Man of the Series: Wavell Hinds

Results: West Indies won by one wicket