Spinners dominate in Multan – 5 records set in Pakistan’s win over West Indies

Jomel Warrican celebrates for West Indies
Jomel Warrican has the record for the best innings bowling figures by a visiting spinner in a Test in Pakistan.

The first Test between Pakistan and the West Indies came to an end on Sunday with the home side winning by 127 runs.

It was a curious Test for many reasons – it was short, there were 40 wickets and there were many records broken.

Let’s have a look at five notable records that were set during the West Indies’ first Test in Pakistan since 2006.

1. Fewest balls bowled

With rain washing out a huge part of day one and play finishing ahead of stumps on day three, there was not a lot of cricket played. In all just 1064 balls were bowled, which make it the lowest number of balls ever bowled in a completed Test in Pakistan.

The previous low, was also set in a Test between Pakistan and West Indies, back in Faisalabad in 1990 when the game was completed in 1080 balls.

2. Least resistance ever by a Windies side

Of the 1080 balls bowled, the Windies faced just 371. That is easily the fewest number of balls they have faced in two completed innings (where a completed innings means ten wickets have been taken).

The West Indies simply had no answers for the spin threat of the home side and the 371 balls they faced easily beat their previous shortest show of resistance – the 450 balls faced when playing England at Headingly in 2000.

Also read: Which captain has the best bowling figures in Test cricket?

3. Spinning dominance

The Pakistan spinners were simply on fire – and to be fair their West Indian counterparts were not far behind. The current 2024-25 season has seen Pakistan’s spinners (in this instance Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Abrar Ahmed) take all 20 wickets in a match on three occasions. Until this season this is a feat that had only ever been achieved twice by Pakistan’s spin merchants.

But the West Indies spinners were also able to contribute the stats as the combined total of wickets taken by spinners, 34, was a new record for a Test in Pakistan – beating the previous best of 32. The previous record was also set at Multan, in last years’ Test between England and Pakistan.

4. Jomel Warrican sets a record for a visiting spinner

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Jomel Warrican set a record for the best innings bowling figures by a visiting spinner in a Test in Pakistan. His second innings return of seven for 32 were the best by a visiting spinner and the third best figures of all time by any touring bowler in Pakistan.

The only two away bowlers to have returned better figures are Kapil Dev who took eight for 85 in 1983 and Ravi Ratnayeke who took eight for 83 in 1985.

5. Time to reverse the batting order

The West Indies were in all sorts of trouble in their first innings as they collapsed to 66 for eight and 91 for nine. It was a horrible position. But Warrican and Jayden Seales, batting at 10 and 11 respectively stepped up with aplomb to become the innings two top scorers with contributions of 31 and 22 respectively.

It’s only happened twice before in the history of Test cricket that the last two batters have been the top scorers in an innings. The first time it happened was in 1885 (between Australian duo Tom Garrett and Edwin Evans) and the second time in 2022 (between England’s Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood).

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