MULTAN: The West Indies gained a slender nine-run lead over Pakistan Saturday as spinners dominated the opening day of the second Test in Multan, with Noman Ali achieving a hat trick for the home side.
Jomel Warrican took 4-43 and Gudakesh Motie 3-49 as Pakistan were bowled out for 154 at the close, replying to the West Indian first innings total of 163.
Left-armer Noman became the first Pakistan spinner to register a Test hat trick during his 6-41 as the West Indies were bowled out at the stroke of lunch in 41.1 overs, having won the toss and batted.
But the visitors hit back with a blitz of their own as 16 wickets fell to spinners — the most by that type of bowling on the opening day of a Test.
The previous record was 14 between England and South Africa at Leeds in 1907.
Only Mohammad Rizwan (49) and Saud Shakeel (32) batted with confidence for the home side, adding 68 for the fifth wicket before Pakistan slumped from 119-4 to 154 all out — losing the last six wickets for 35 runs.
Fast bowler Kemar Roach dismissed openers Muhammad Hurraira (nine) and Shan Masood (15), while Motie sent back Babar Azam (one) and Kamran Ghulam (16) to leave Pakistan at 51-4.
In the post-tea session, Shakeel was smartly caught in the deep by Roach — who hurt his groin but completed the catch — while Rizwan was stumped, both falling to Warrican.
Motie had Salman Agha for nine while the last man Kashif Ali was run out without scoring.
Earlier, the West Indies were left reeling at 7-38 with Sajid Khan 2-64 and Noman doing the damage.
It could have been worse for the tourists had Motie — who top scored with a career-best 55 — not added an invaluable 68 runs for the last wicket with Warrican, who scored 36 not out with two sixes.
Motie also added 41 for the ninth wicket with Roach (25) to delay the lunch break before Noman grabbed the last two wickets for his eighth five-wicket haul in an innings.
Pakistan employed the same spin-heavy tactics which earned them a 127-run win in the first Test — also in Multan — with the ball turning from the first over.
Noman came on to bowl as the first change, and trapped West Indian skipper Kraigg Brathwaite leg before for nine to spark a collapse which saw the tourists slump from 32-2 to 38-8 off just 14 deliveries.
Noman dismissed Justin Greaves for one, then Tevin Imlach and Kevin Sinclair off successive deliveries to become the fifth Pakistan bowler to grab a Test hat trick.
Fast bowlers Wasim Akram (two hat tricks against Sri Lanka in 1999), Abdul Razzaq (against Sri Lanka in 2000), Mohammad Sami (also against Sri Lanka, in 2002), and Naseem Shah (against Bangladesh in 2020) achieved the feat for Pakistan previously.
Off-spinner Sajid dismissed debutant Amir Jangoo and Alick Athanaze — both without scoring — while Abrar Ahmed accounted for Kavem Hodge for 21.
Debutant pacer Kashif had Mikyle Louis for four in his first over.
West Indies earn slender lead over Pakistan after Noman hat trick
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West Indies earn slender lead over Pakistan after Noman hat trick
- Jomel Warrican took 4-43, Gudakesh Motie 3-49 as Pakistan were bowled out for 154 at close
- Left-armer Noman became the first Pakistan spinner to register a Test hat trick during his 6-41
Over 50 feared dead in Karachi shopping plaza fire, officials say
- Search teams recover 14 bodies as officials warn toll may rise sharply
- Traders seek urgent compensation after 1,200 shops destroyed in blaze
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities warned on Monday the death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi could exceed 50, as recovery operations continued a day after the blaze destroyed over 1,200 shops in one of the city’s busiest commercial districts.
The fire broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business area and spread rapidly through multiple floors. Firefighters battled for more than 24 hours to bring the blaze under control, which was fully extinguished by Monday, officials said, with cooling and debris removal now underway.
Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and economic losses.
During a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House on Monday, officials briefed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that 14 bodies had so far been recovered from the site, while the overall death toll could climb significantly as debris is cleared.
“Estimated fatalities could exceed 50,” the Sindh chief minister’s office said in a statement, quoting officials who briefed Shah on the scale of the disaster.
Shah was told that the shopping plaza, built over roughly 8,000 square yards, housed around 1,200 shops, leaving an equal number of traders suddenly without livelihoods. Shah said all affected shopkeepers would be rehabilitated and announced the formation of a committee to recommend compensation amounts and a recovery plan.
“The Gul Plaza building will be rebuilt, and we want to decide how the affected traders can be given shops immediately so their businesses can resume,” Shah said, according to the statement.
Officials said firefighting operations involved 16 fire tenders and water bowzers, with 50 to 60 firefighters taking part. The Karachi Water Board supplied more than 431,000 gallons of water during the operation, while Rescue 1122 ambulances reached the site within minutes of the first alert.
Authorities said access constraints inside the building, along with intense smoke, hampered rescue efforts in the early stages of the fire. A firefighter was among those killed, officials said, noting that his father had also died in the line of duty years earlier.
The provincial government ordered an immediate forensic investigation to determine the cause of the blaze, directing the chief secretary to notify a fact-finding committee. Shah also instructed that debris removal begin without delay so recovery teams could continue searching for victims.
The tragedy has also heightened anxiety within Karachi’s business community.
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has formed a dedicated committee to document losses, coordinate relief and press the government for compensation, saying preliminary assessments indicate more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were completely destroyed.
Ateeq Mir, a traders’ representative, has estimated losses from the fire at over $10 million.
“There is no compensation for life, but we will try our best that the small businessmen who have suffered losses here are compensated in a transparent manner,” Shah told reporters on Sunday night.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered full federal support to provincial authorities, stressing the need for a “coordinated and effective system” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Battling large fires in Karachi’s congested commercial districts remains notoriously difficult. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders, while buildings often lack functioning fire exits, alarms or sprinkler systems.
Although safety regulations exist, enforcement is sporadic, allowing hazardous wiring and flammable materials to go unchecked — conditions that enable fires to spread rapidly and magnify human and economic losses.
