West Indies pacer Jayden Seales praised his side’s bowling effort on day one of the first Test between the West Indies and Pakistan in Multan on Friday morning.
In a day shortened by foggy conditions at the Multan Cricket Stadium, the hosts, after winning the toss and choosing to take first strike, were restricted to 143-4 in 41.3 overs at stumps.
If not for a 97-run fifth-wicket partnership between Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, things would be looking even more bleak for Pakistan.
Seales, playing as the team’s only true fast bowler with all-rounder Justin Greaves being the other seam-up option, was the pick of the bowlers on a spin-friendly track, taking 3-21 from his 10 overs on day one.
The spin trio of Gudakesh Motie, Kevin Sinclair and Jomel Warrican combined for one wicket in 28 overs while conceding 104 runs.
The 23-year-old was happy with the team’s bowling performance on day one, noting that despite his exploits, spin will become increasingly more important as the match progresses.
“I think, as a bowling unit, we did really well and we just have to back it up again tomorrow,” he said.
“The toss was important, yes, because of the way the pitch looked but, saying that, I think going forward, the spinners will come into the game a lot more. It may reverse swing at some point but I still think that the spinners may dominate in this game moving forward,” Seales added.
The Trinidadian quick used excellent skill and guile to pick up the wickets of highly rated debutant Muhammad Huraira, the in-form Babar Azam and Kamran Ghulam all within the first 10 overs of the day.
Even with the pitch appearing spin-friendly, Seales said the new ball was moving around a bit in training sessions so the plan was to exploit that movement early.
“We saw from the training sessions that the ball did a little bit when it was new so it was for me to try and get the best out of the new ball and put the ball in the right areas. With the cold conditions, it did a bit and it worked out for us,” he said.
He also touched on his experience being the spearhead of the attack in this game in the absence of players like Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph.
“No pressure. For me as a player, I’m coming into the game a lot more, lifting my hand up for the team and trying to do a job every time I’m called upon,” he said. Sportsmax
