MULTAN: West Indies bowler Jomel Warrican dominated his team’s first victory over Pakistan in nearly 35 years on Monday, with skipper Kraigg Brathwaite labelling it an “outstanding” performance.
The 32-year-old left-arm spinner took nine wickets to spearhead a series-levelling win against the hosts on the third day of the second Test in Multan.
Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite was effusive in his praise for Warrican, man of the match and of the series for his 19 wickets.
West Indies' players celebrate the dismissal of Pakistan's Kashif Ali (R) during the third day of the second Test cricket match between Pakistan and West Indies at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
“Jomel was outstanding,” said Brathwaite.
“To see how he went about his bowling and the pressure he built from ball one, I mean, it was amazing.
“With the bat, you can’t come to him more. I think he did a fantastic job with the bat as well. But bowling-wise, I know he’s worked hard over the years.”
Brathwaite said Warrican’s performance was as “amazing” as that of Shamar Joseph in Australia 12 months ago, when the newcomer fast bowler helped power the West Indians to a rare victory.
“This one is right up there, both amazing Test wins,” said Brathwaite. “To come here, playing here in Pakistan, it’s never easy to win a Test match so to have done that is fantastic.”
The victory is West Indies’ first in Pakistan since winning the Faisalabad Test in November 1990.
Pakistan won the first Test by 127 runs, also in Multan.
However, the second Test victory lifted West Indies to eighth in the World Test Championship, having started the series on ninth and last.
The defeat plunged Pakistan from eighth to last.
Warrican scored a crucial 36 not out in the first innings, which lifted the West Indies from a precarious 9-95 to 163 all out.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood acknowledged that the runs made by the West Indian tail were the turning point.
“We allowed them to score 109 runs for the last two wickets and then we were 119-4 and then bowled out for 154 and conceded a nine-run lead, that pushed us back,” Masood said.
“We made mistakes as a team and lost as a team,” said Masood, who has now lost nine of 12 Tests as captain.
He defended the tactic of using dry pitches to assist spin bowlers in matches at home.
“We’ve won three out of four Tests,” said Masood, referring to Pakistan’s two wins against England and then the first West Indies Test.
Pakistan’s batters also found the conditions tough to bat on, raising calls to have similar pitches in domestic matches where fast bowlers have ruled in the past two seasons.
“We have to replicate these conditions in our domestic matches so that our batters can also bat better in future, but this is the strategy with which we have won a series against England,” Masood said.
