The trio shared nine wickets between them to help their team secure a win by 109 runs and level the two-match series 1-1 against West Indies in Jamaica.
Resuming at 49/1 on the final morning, West Indies required another 280 runs to pull off an unlikely victory with nine wickets still intact. Given the conditions on offer and, with the rain threat constantly looming, the draw seemed their most pragmatic aim – something their aggressive batters aren’t used to playing for.
Either side of opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite (39 off 145 balls), hardly any of the West Indies batters looked comfortable grinding the bowlers down for too long. Eventually, Brathwaite finished as the second-highest scorer for the final innings, where only ex-captain Jason Holder (47) surpassed him.
Among others, Kyle Mayers (32), Kieran Powell (23), who was run out last evening, and Jermaine Blackwood (25) were the only ones to breach the 20-run mark against some quality bowling from Shaheen, Hasan and Nauman.
The left-arm spinner was the understated hero of the Pakistan win as he kept things tight and got all the big wickets through his spell of 3/52 off 22 overs. His tally included Brathwaite, Holder and Blackwood.
Shaheen’s four-fer (4/43) helped him complete a maiden ten-wicket-haul in his young Test career. He had picked up 6/51 in the first half. The fact that the speedster got 10 of the West Indies’ 20 wickets in less than 35 overs in the game allowed Pakistan to overcome the washout on Day 2, the other delays and even their own fielding lapses.
Hasan (2/37) also chipped in with a couple of useful breakthroughs on the day.
Brief scores
Pakistan 302/9 dec (Alam 124*, Azam 75; Seales 3/31, Roach 3/68) & 176/6 dec (Butt 37, Azam 33, Joseph 2/24, Holder 2/27) beat West Indies 150 (Bonner 37, Blackwood 33; Afridi 6/51, Abbas 3/44) & 219 (Holder 47, Brathwaite 39; Afridi 4/43, Nauman Ali 3/52) by 109 runs.
