Brilliant Yasir leads Pakistan towards history

On the first three days in Roseau, a total of 15 wickets fell. On the fourth, fourteen batsmen succumbed as the deciding Test between West Indies and Pakistan burst into life. With the hosts needing 304 to win, all three results are just about possible, in the game, and by extension, the series.

The start of the evening saw West Indies strike the perfect notes, Alzarri Joseph getting rid of the last two recognised batsmen, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq. With Pakistan 90 for 7, the lead just over 200 but well below what would make Misbah-ul-Haq feel comfortable, Jason Holder's men might have sniffed the possibility of a sensational win.

But that was before Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah put together a gutsy 61-run stand that steered Pakistan out of troubled waters and could well have batted West Indies out of the contest. Yasir continued haunting his opposition as he picked up a wicket off what became the last ball of the day.

Misbah and Younis Khan would be quietly confident that they can retire from Test cricket with the honour spearheading Pakistan to their first series win in the Caribbean. Finishing their careers with scores of 2 and 35 respectively in exchange for that seems like a pretty good trade off. Both men were welcomed back to the pavilion one last time by a set of grateful team-mates lined up in a guard of honour.

All that emotion had to be kept aside, however, during the last hour and a half of play. Pakistan did so and as a result enjoyed complete domination. Yasir, who was caught off a no-ball, and Amir, who was drawn into a few verbal arguments, swung merrily during the final five overs of the innings to ransack 47 runs. Then came the declaration.

The West Indies openers were left with the unenviable task of batting out the day's last 25 minutes against the new ball. They hung in bravely right till the final over, but Yasir had one final blow to land and Shan Masood helped out by staying low at silly point and diving to his right to pull off a remarkable catch to dismiss Kieron Powell.