Pak take control after WI errors
Pakistan took advantage of lapses in the field to reach 322 for five at lunch in the first innings on the fourth day of the first Test against West Indies on Monday.
Resuming at the overnight position of 201 for four and facing the threat of the second new ball, the tourists added another 121 runs for the loss of just one wicket with wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed leading the charge.
He stroked an unbeaten 53 while his captain, Misbah ul Haq, continued in his usual restrained manner and will resume in the afternoon session on 47 at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
Their sixth-wicket partnership has been worth 86 runs so far following the dismissal of Asad Shafiq, caught behind off fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who has been by far the pick of the West Indies bowlers with figures of three for 73 off 24 overs on an increasingly placid pitch.
Yet despite the batting-friendly conditions, the home side have only themselves to blame for both batsmen still being at the crease when play resumes for the afternoon session, with Pakistan in control.
Misbah was missed twice, the first time early in the extended morning session when debutant Vishaul Singh was slow to react at short-leg as the veteran skipper fended at a lifting delivery from Gabriel.
Then closer to the lunch interval, Alzarri Joseph completely misjudged an attempt running back from mid-off when the batsman miscued a lofted hit off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.
In keeping with his ultra-aggressive mode, Ahmed altered the pedestrian pace of the game from the moment he came to the crease, advancing down the pitch to the faster bowlers and seeking to score at every opportunity.
He completed his 12th Test half-century in the final over before the break off 60 deliveries with one six and five fours, and then promptly had his own moment of good fortune, wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich missing a stumping chance when the batsman charged forward for another aggressive stroke at Roston Chase.
Misbah has so far spent three-and-a-half hours in the middle, facing 128 deliveries and striking one four and one six, the big hit coming off the last ball bowled by Chase before the conclusion of the morning session.
SCORES IN BRIEF
WEST INDIES: First innings 286 all out (Chase 63, Holder 57 not out, Dowrich 56; Amir 6-44, Yasir 2-91)
PAKISTAN: First innings 322 for 5 (Babar 72, Younis 58, Sarfraz 53 not out; Gabriel 3-73)
OLDEST, FIRST AND SIXTH-FASTEST
When he reached 23 on the third day of the first Test against West Indies, Younis Khan became the first Pakistan batsman to reach the 10,000-run landmark in Tests
Pakistan now join India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and England as countries that have members in the 10,000-runs club.
Younis has 34 Test centuries, which places him in joint second place for centuries at the 10,000-run stage. He is level with Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar and behind Ricky Ponting, who scored 35.
His rate of converting half-centuries into centuries at the 10,000-run stage is the best in the 10k club -- 32 half-centuries and 34 tons give him a conversion rate of 52 per cent.