Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam give Pakistan a good start

Azhar Ali (38 not out) and Sami Aslam (37 not out) teamed up to share an unbroken stand of 81 for the opening wicket to hand Pakistan control of proceedings at Tea on the opening day of the Day-Night Test against West Indies at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Thursday (October 13).

With the continual expanse of evening sunset over the stadium, it made for a stunningly beautiful place to watch a game of cricket. However, despite the Test being played under lights to revive public's interest in the traditional format of the game, the players were greeted with empty stands. There was an inkling before the match commenced that pink-ball Test could bring in a dash of excitement and adventure, with fans flocking to the stadium, but it hasn't been the case so far.

The cricket on display also wasn't exactly of high standard. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat on what looked like a typical Dubai track that would stay slow and low. Azhar and Aslam showed the required defence and application to negotiate the early threat of Shannon Gabriel and Miguel Cummins.

Cummins wheeled away from the Dubai Sports City End and snapped his fingers to angle it across the left-handed Aslam. He even had an appeal for leg-before turned down against the opener in the second over. On replays, it was clear that the ball had pitched outside the line of leg-stump.

In what turned out to be a battle of wills and patience between Cummins and Aslam, the 20-year-old opener emerged the winner. With the alternating chords of solid front foot defence and measured judgment outside off, he looked set to compile a big score at Tea.

Azhar, his partner at the other end, was troubled by Gabriel's uncanny ability to extract bounce from a length. The sturdy pacer even elicited an outside edge off Azhar's bat, but it fell short of the slip cordon. The 31-year-old also played a half-hearted cut shot off Cummins in the 13th over, but Leon Johnson positioned at floater slip, couldn't hold onto the sharp chance.

It was only when Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase and Devendra Bishoo were introduced into the attack that Aslam decided to unfurl a volley of shots. With nimble feet and a still head, the left-handed batsman hustled the fielders by threading the gaps in the field.

The way Aslam skipped down the track to Brathwaite and lofted him into the downtown territories for a couple of boundaries encapsulates the point. Meanwhile, Azhar rocked back to cut Bishoo behind square on the off-side for a four. To his credit, Bishoo soon found his rhythm and bowled with nagging control for the rest of the session.

The pink ball has held up well till now. It would be interesting to see whether the dew factor will come into play later on in the day. As far as the match is concerned, Pakistan have made a strong start in their first day-night Test and the visitors need a stream of wickets to pull things back.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 81/0 (Azhar Ali 38*, Sami Aslam 37*) vs West Indies.