West Indies Beat Pakistan by 90 Runs in First-Ever Tarouba Test to Lead Series 1-0
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West Indies Beat Pakistan by 90 Runs in First-Ever Tarouba Test to Lead Series 1-0
West Indies opened the first Test ever staged at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, south Trinidad, with a 90-run win over Pakistan inside four days, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series and a valuable boost in the World Test Championship.
Set 211 to win on a fourth-day surface that had rewarded seam bowling all match, Pakistan folded for 120. The chase unravelled early, from five for one to 53 for six, and only captain Babar Azam offered lasting resistance, carrying his bat for an unbeaten 58. Fast bowler Jayden Seales, a Trinidadian on home soil, ripped through the rest with figures of five for 20, while Kemar Roach and Justin Greaves took two apiece.
West Indies 492 runs across the match to Pakistan’s 402: a 90-run margin, sealed inside four days.
The result was built on the first three days. West Indies made 311 in their first innings, anchored by Shai Hope’s 92 and Kavem Hodge’s 84, with Mohammad Abbas taking four for 50. Pakistan replied with 282, thanks largely to Shan Masood, who compiled 109, the venue’s first Test century, batting on despite a fractured finger, and Imam-ul-Haq’s 63. Greaves broke through with a maiden Test five-for, five for 27, to keep the lead down to 29.
West Indies then stumbled to 181 in their second innings, undone by Abbas again, who claimed five for 22 to finish with nine wickets in the match. What proved decisive was a counterattacking 38 from 27 balls by Shamar Joseph, four sixes among them, which pushed the target beyond Pakistan’s reach. From there the hosts’ four-man pace attack did the rest.
The St Vincent connection
The win carries a local stamp. Jomel Warrican, the Richmond Hill-born left-arm spinner and West Indies Test vice-captain, was in the XI, the most accomplished Vincentian Test cricketer of his generation. His was a quiet match on a pitch that offered the quicks everything, two overs bowled and 14 with the bat as the last man out, but he ends the game a winner and the series 1-0 up.
Warrican’s stature is well earned. His nine wickets in Multan in January 2025 delivered West Indies their first Test win in Pakistan in 34 years, after which he was handed the Test vice-captaincy.
Scorecard at a glance
West Indies 311 (Hope 92, Hodge 84; Abbas 4-50)
Pakistan 282 (Masood 109, Imam 63; Greaves 5-27)
West Indies 181 (S. Joseph 38, Chanderpaul 35; Abbas 5-22)
Pakistan 120 (Babar 58 not out, Abbas 23; Seales 5-20, Roach 2-27, Greaves 2-12)
West Indies won by 90 runs. Series: West Indies lead 1-0.
Both sides came into the series at the foot of the World Test Championship table, and West Indies, fresh from a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka, will fancy their chances of closing out the series when the second and final Test begins. Pakistan, whose bowlers did their job with Abbas outstanding across the match, were let down by a top order that could not handle the seam and bounce.
Result and figures confirmed from the official scorecard. Player-of-the-match had not been formally recorded at the time of writing. This report will be updated with the second Test details once confirmed.