West Indies pinned to 23-1 by Pakistan in rain-affected start to first test

TAROUBA, Trinidad (AP) — Mohammad Abbas’ impressive seam bowling pinned West Indies to 23-1 against Pakistan in a rain-affected start to the first test at Brian Lara Stadium on Saturday.

Rain allowed only 14.1 overs in 74 minutes of play before lunch after West Indies captain Roston Chase won the toss and elected to bat.

Abbas bowled four of his five maiden overs to left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who was unbeaten on 5 off 40 balls. Chanderpaul survived an lbw review against Abbas. Abbas ended the session with impressive figures of 7-5-8-1.

Brandon King scored 12 off 29 balls including a boundary off Abbas which flew over the slips cordon. But he chopped on in the ninth over. Kavem Hodge was on 5 at lunch.

Heavy rain took the players off the field just after debutant left-arm spinner Ali Usman found sharp turn off his first delivery that struck Chanderpaul’s pads as he stepped out of his crease while going for his first aggressive shot.

Babar Azam has returned to lead Pakistan after the captaincy was stripped from Shan Masood, who lost 12 out of 16 tests after taking over from Babar in late 2023. Pakistan hasn’t won an away test since beating Sri Lanka in 2023 under Babar.

Opening batter Abdullah Fazal was ruled out of the series, and the upcoming three tests in England, after receiving a lower back injury on Thursday. Imam-ul-Haq, who missed the last series against Bangladesh, returned to open with Azan Awais.

West Indies went in with three fast bowlers — Kemar Roach, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales — after Alzarri Joseph made himself unavailable for the series. Jomel Warrican was the specialist spinner.

The teams are at the bottom of the World Test Championship with one win apiece.

Garfield Sobers remembered

West Indies players and match officials wore black armbands in memory of legendary allrounder Garfield Sobers, who died at the age of 89 this month.

Players of both teams and match officials observed a minute of silence before the start of play at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, which became the 13th test venue in the Caribbean.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket