Pak Vs W Indies Ist Test: Azhar survives with DRS as play resumes after rain delay

Pakistan will be relying as well on their senior frontline spinner Yasir Shah

KINGSTON (Web Desk) - Pakistan are 34 for two after West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat, when rain stopped play on the opening day of the first match of the two-Test series at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Thursday.

West Indies decision to bowl after winning the toss seems to have totally favoured the hosts as West Indies pacers- Kemar Roach and Jayden Seals removed both of Pakistan openers- Imran Butt and Abid Ali for just 21 runs.

After the early jolt- Pakistan players- Azhar Ali and skipper Babar Azam are trying to stabilize their side after the opening fiasco.

Thrashed in their last Test campaign against South Africa in St Lucia two months earlier, the home side have omitted middle-order batsman Shai Hope.

Nkrumah Bonner returns to the number three spot after being ruled out of action on the first day of the South African contest when he was struck on the helmet first ball by fast bowler Anrich Nortje.

Mindful of a pitch which is expected to offer considerable assistance to the slow bowlers, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican has also been drafted into the final eleven.

Pakistan will be relying as well on their senior frontline spinner, Yasir Shah, who returns to action after missing the two-Test series in Zimbabwe while Mohammad Abbas will offer seam support to Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi. 

Squads

West Indies - Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Kieran Powell, Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva (wicketkeeper), Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.

Pakistan - Babar Azam (captain), Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi.