Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Twitter reactions as West Indies beat Pakistan in all-time thriller | Twitter reactions to West Indies beating Pakistan by 1 wicket
What a Test match. A low-scoring thriller. A terrific advertisement for the longest, most pure form of the game.
West Indies beat Pakistan by one wicket in a classic. Kemar Roach and player of the match Jayden Seales held their nerve to nail a 17-run partnership to see the home side over the line. Roach in particular was outstanding in the second innings of the game, taking 3/30 with the ball before scoring a memorable 30 not out to send the Windies camp into delirium.
Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite was full of praise for his team, speaking about their never-say-die attitude. He pointed to how hard the Windies batsmen have been working, and this came to fruition in pressure moments in both innings.
“Remarkable Test. We never lost hope. It was truly amazing. I thought Pakistan bowled really well. It is about patience – who has more patience will come out on top. It will be a different pitch [for the second Test]. The bowlers did a fantastic job. They were a little tired at times too. We have been working hard as a batting group. Blackwood has been hungry for runs, especially at his home ground [here]. It was a good cricket pitch, and had something for the pacers and value for runs,” said the West Indies captain.
At 16/3 and then 114/7, Pakistan looked good to claim victory. After Mohammad Rizwan’s amazing catch to reduce the home side to 151/9, Pakistan were favourites again. However, they were left to rue key missed chances, leaving Pakistani players, staff and fans heartbroken.
Skipper Babar Azam spoke about those missed chances in the post-match interview. This is yet another loss from Pakistan in a winning position overseas, after losing to England and New Zealand over the past year. He praised his batsmen for their fight and patience, but admitted the dropped catches were costly.
“This is the beauty of Test cricket. We put in a good effort with the bat. The bowlers then restricted them before our bowlers took the wickets. Again, in the second innings, we fought with the bat and the bowlers hit back. It was swinging and seaming throughout in the second innings. But we were patient, and our attempt to stitch together partnerships. Our bowlers were really good, especially Abbas and Shaheen. Had we taken those dropped catches, the result could have been different,” said Babar.