Justin Greaves produced a remarkable spell on day three of the first Test against Pakistan, taking five wickets without conceding a run as the West Indies tightened their grip on the match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.
The Barbadian all-rounder had started the day with six overs for 27 runs without a wicket, but he turned the Test in short order with five consecutive wicket maidens. His breakthrough came in the 64th over, when Shan Masood was bowled for 109, and he went on to remove Pakistan's lower order as the innings unraveled.
Greaves swings the game
Aamer Jamal, Ali Usman, Mohammed Rizwan and Mohammad Abbas were all dismissed later on day three as Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 38 runs. Greaves finished with figures of 5-27, his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket and the best return of his 17-Test career.
It was also a sharp improvement on his previous best of 3-39 against Sri Lanka earlier this year. Greaves said the key was staying disciplined and letting the ball do the work, noting that when he gets the ball in hand the team looks to him as a solid player who can help dig them out of difficult situations.
He also said the swing and movement he found brought some reward, and added that while reaching five wickets in Test cricket for the first time was a happy moment, there is still plenty of work to do in the game.
Pakistan left chasing the match
By stumps, West Indies were 126-7 in their second innings and led by 155 runs. That gave them a strong position after a spell that changed the feel of the Test, with Greaves' run of wickets turning a tight contest into a clear advantage for the home side.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Abbas was one of the late wickets in the collapse, falling as the innings closed out quickly. For West Indies, Greaves' spell was the kind of sustained pressure that can define a Test match: accurate, patient and relentless from one end to the other.
