Pakistan v West Indies - Tour Match

President's XI v West Indians

Rawalpindi
3 Day Game
Umpires: Daud Khan & Shujaddin
Toss: West Indians

PRES XI: Shoaib Mohammad, Rameez Raja, Ijaz Ahmed, Javed Burki, Haroon Rashid, Wasim Raja, *Abdul Kardar, +Saleem Yousuf, Tauseef Ahmed, Mahmood Hussain, Sikander Bakht.

WI: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, GA Headley, IVA Richards, CL Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, AME Roberts, CEL Ambrose, J Garner, CA Walsh.

A game that ultimately disappointed as a contest nonetheless served as an interesting form guide ahead of the Tests, with an untried President's XI forcing a draw against the tourists. The West Indians dominated the first day's play, racking up an imposing total of 435-7, with Desmond Haynes' unbeaten double century the cornerstone of the innings. Haynes batted for the best part of six hours in compiling his 204*, sharing stands of 143 with Lloyd (55) and 203 with Sobers, who hit a sparkling 121 off just 136 balls. Mahmood Hussain claimed a deserved five wicket haul for the President's XI, but the rest of the hosts' attack posed little threat on a flat Rawalpindi wicket.

The President's XI proved to be more competitive with the bat however, and over the course of the next day and a half they ground out a commendable response to the tourists' first innings score. Numbers 1-9 all reached double figures as the West Indian pacemen received little or no assistance from the pitch, with skipper Abdul Kardar and wicket keeper Saleem Yousuf both notching fifties in a seventh wicket stand that pushed the hosts to safety. Both were eventually removed by Courtney Walsh, who then cleaned out the tail to finish with the excellent figures 0f 6-66 from 23 overs, but Ambrose, Roberts and Garner were all disappointing, and West Indies will look forward to welcoming back the services of the rested Marshall and Holding for the Tests.

The President's XI eventually totalled 309, leaving West Indies time to give their first day failures some valuable batting practice in a brief second innings before the game petered out into an inevitable draw. Of the tourists' batsmen, only George Headley looks out of touch, but he is still expected to be in the starting XI for the first Test in Karachi, where expectations are high for some highly competitive cricket at the start of an eagerly anticipated series.

Scores
WI 1st Inns 435-7 dec. (Haynes 204*, Sobers 121, Lloyd 55; Mahmood Hussain 5-87)
PRES XI 1st Inns 309 (Abdul Kardar 57, Saleem Yousuf 51, Ijaz Ahmed 42, Wasim Raja 41; Walsh 6-66)
WI 2nd Inns 147-5 (Richards 48)

MATCH DRAWN