Babar Azam scores century in 1st innings since becoming Test captain again, Pakistan dominate West Indies Select XI in warm-up clash

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam scored a century in his first outing since he was reinstated as the Test captain. Babar continued his good form and scored a century before retiring out in the warm-up clash against West Indies Select XI leading up to the two-Test series which will begin later this week in Trinidad. 

Babar walked out to bat when Pakistan were 147/2 in the 46th over on Day 1. Recently-sacked Test captain Shan Masood scored 70 runs from 100 balls.

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At the start on Day 2's play Babar was batting on 14 off 44 balls. He struggled to score freely against spin and plenty close-in fielders applying pressure.

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Babar joined forces with young opener Azan Awais to keep West Indies Select XI at bay. In the 75th over of the innings, Babar hit four fours off Ryan Bandoo, reaching his half-century from 83 balls. On the other end, Awais scored his century from 241 balls and left the field.

Babar hit the only six of his knock against Jomel Warrican. Battling hard at Brian Lara Stadium, he got to his century from 151 balls in the 97th over of the innings.

Fazal scores fifty, Agha scores aggressively, Rizwan unbeaten

Later, in Day 2's play. Abdullah Fazal retired after scoring 50 runs from 97 balls. Salman Agha scored 46 runs from 60 balls, featuring three fours and a couple of sixes, before getting dismissed by Bandoo. Later, Bandoo got the wicket of Aamer Jamal as well. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten for 44 off 103 deliveries. Pakistan were 455/4 from 136.5 overs at the end of Day 2's play.

In the four-day warm-up game, Pakistan may look to bat a session or two before declaring. For West Indies Select XI, only Bandoo was able to take a couple of wickets while several others remained wicketless.

When will West Indies vs Pakistan Test series begin?

The two-Test series will commence on July 25 at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba. The second Test will be played at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, starting August 2.

Pakistan are currently at the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 points table with just four points as they faced an eight-point deduction for slow over rate. They have won just one out of four Tests in the current cycle. They faced a cleansweep in the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

On the other hand, West Indies are placed eighth with 18 points. They have lost seven, drawn two and won out of 10 Tests in the current cycle.