West Indies vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Pakistan tour of West Indies, 2026 - CommentaryWI vs PAK, 2nd Test, Pakistan tour of West Indies, 2026 - Commentary

Chase and Babar receive the trophy and pose for the photographs. West Indies paid a fitting tribute to Sir Garfield Sobers by winning the first-ever Test at the Brian Lara Stadium. While the pacers ruled the roost there, the spinners called the shots here at the Queen's Park Oval as Pakistan levelled the series 1-1. That's it from this closely fought 2-match Test series. Another away series awaits Pakistan, who will travel to England to play three Tests and five ODIs. West Indies, meanwhile, won't play for more than a month but their players will take part in the Caribbean Premier League which commences on Friday (7th August). We'll be there to bring you all the action. For now, it's goodbye.

Babar Azam | Player of the Series and Pakistan captain: [On the injury to his finger] Right now it's a bit sore, but I think it's fine. It's a little bit bruised. [On ending Pakistan's run of away defeats] Obviously, when you win the match as a team, you are satisfied. And as a captain, I'm satisfied. But the main thing is that we executed our plans. Under pressure in the first innings, the way Abdullah played, and then in the second innings, the way the spinners bowled, took early wickets and put pressure on the West Indies team. I think over the last three months we have prepared for the Test matches, so obviously when you do those things and perform, you're always satisfied. [On the bold team selection] When we saw the pitch, we decided it was a proper spinner's pitch, similar to Pakistan pitches. Then me and my coach, we decided to out one spinner and we rested our main bowlers because of the team combination. Our two spinners, young Ubaid Shah making his debut and the main thing was the way Mohammad Ali bowled with the new ball and the old ball. He put pressure on the West Indies team, and then Usman Ali bowled throughout the day and took wickets.

Roston Chase | West Indies captain: Obviously disappointing. We wanted to come and win this series 2-0 or even try to get this match ended in a draw. So it's very disappointing for us after we spoke about the things that we wanted to achieve in this home summer. [On whether he would have changed the team combination in hindsight] I think we would have probably gone for an extra spinner, seeing that and underestimated this injury, I still thought I would have been able to bowl a bit more, but when I got into the game, it was a bit too much pain, so I couldn't really go any further in terms of bowling. So, yeah, I would have probably gone with an extra spinner. [On whether the second innings batting is a concern] I wouldn't say it is a concern, but obviously in these conditions, you're expected to score a big score in the first innings. Then, as the pitch deteriorates, the scores would come down. But I just think that we could have done a bit better in terms of negotiating the spin and putting a better total, giving our bowlers something to bowl at. [On assessing the West Indies' home summer and the team's progress] I think these past two series we've played some really good cricket. We've been improving as a team, going in the direction that I want us to go. But obviously still disappointed with this result. We wanted to have two Test series wins at home. As I said, we wanted to make this a fortress and come out undefeated. But it is what it is. We just have to learn, go forward and improve.

Justin Greaves | Player of the Series: In this game, in terms of batting, we had a tricky little situation and then Roston Chase and I put on a pretty good partnership in the first innings. But just unlucky that I was unable to bowl to help the team out. [On his injury] Yeah, probably just a couple of days in terms of getting back to full fitness. But really looking back at it now, I really wish I could have helped the team a little bit more. [On his dismissal and whether they could have done anything differently] No, I don't think there was much we could have done differently. Balls keeping low, the balls spinning. Yes, we wanted to be a bit more proactive in terms of scoring this morning, but you can't really take it away from the Pakistan bowlers. I think they bowled really well to us, and we were pretty much not able to combat it. [On his game] I think it's in a really good place at the moment, but never satisfied. I always want to do better, always want to help the team. We actually set out to win both series at home, ended up drawing this one, so it's not a bad international summer for us in terms of Test cricket. But, looking back, we obviously want to win more Test matches. [On what stands out from the team's performances across formats during a busy home season] Just the fight from this group. I think each and every game we've gotten stronger, both the Test team and the one-day team. To come back from difficult situations and guys being able to put their hands up, get big hundreds, we had Amir Jangoo, we had Roston Chase and bowlers getting five wickets. For us, that's a very, very important thing. We always talk about it in the dressing room, everyone trying to be better, everyone trying to stay hungry, and just looking forward to the next one.

Abdullah Shafique | Player of the Match: [On being a late replacement and making a successful comeback] It's very special, especially coming in the comeback match. And it always feels like a debut match to me. But the main thing is that I kept working hard for the last one year, and I was waiting for my opportunity. It was really an unexpected opportunity, but luckily I grabbed it. [On his mindset during the first-innings knock and the partnership with Babar Azam] I just thought that I had to bat for my country, for my team, because in the last three or four Tests, we were not doing that well as a batting unit as we wanted to. But, we kept all those things aside and tried our best here. [Are you where you want to be technically and mentally as a player?] Yeah, I have played enough matches, so I have that experience as well. But I couldn't get the opportunity, and it happens sometimes. As a professional, you have to come back and you have to do your best. [On having the most Test centuries for Pakistan since his debut and what was going through his mind when wickets kept falling at the other end] This is not in my hands, to be honest. I was waiting at that time, but I couldn't get the opportunity. But, as I always say, this is not in your hands, so it is an uncontrollable thing.

Babar Azam has 9 away Test wins in 12 matches as captain - the best away W/L ratio (3.00) in Test history (min. 12 away Tests).

The average turn for spinners is highest on Day 4 (over 4 degrees), with the fourth innings offering the most turn across all innings in this Test.

Pakistan ended a four-Test losing streak with this win. It was also their first overseas Test victory since beating Sri Lanka in July 2023, breaking an eight-match losing streak - their longest in away Tests.

WI-PAK Test series in the West Indies
Series: 10
WI won: 4
PAK won: 1
Drawn: 5

West Indies have not won a Test series against Pakistan since 2000, with Pakistan winning four of the last nine series while five ended in draws.

13:06 Local Time, 17:06 GMT, 22:36 IST: Pakistan end their 8-match losing streak away from home. After losing the toss, they conceded 344 which looked like a competitive total. In reply, the visitors reached an excellent position, thanks to the century stand between Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam. Brandon King's direct-hit proved to be a big moment in this Test. It broke the 183-run partnership, stopped Babar from reaching a ton, triggered a mini-collapse and resulted in an injury to King that prevented him from taking any further part in the contest. And suddenly the Test progressed at a rapid pace. Pakistan mustered only a 43-run lead but their spinners did the damage on day three by reducing the hosts to 103/6. They took less than half an hour this morning to remove the remaining wickets and a target of 75 was always going to be a cakewalk. They lost only their openers before crossing the line. Fittingly, the Abdullah-Babar duo take their team home.