28th October 1986 was an astonishing day of Test match cricket in Pakistan. Around mid-eighties Pakistan and West Indies were two of the strongest teams. Although India won the World cup in 1983 and World Championship of cricket in 1985, in Test matches Pakistan and West Indies were fancied team as both the team could boast of a very strong bowling line up.
In the 1986 West Indies tour of Pakistan, the first Test started on 24th October at Faisalabad. By the end of day one, it looked like West Indies were calling all the shots. Their fast bowlers were all over Pakistan and got them all out for just 159. Anthony Gray took 4/39, Malcolm Marshall 3/48 and Patrick Patterson took 2/38. Pakistan were 37/5 at one stage and could recover to reach a hundred plus score thanks to captain Imran Khan’s 61. By the end of the day, one West Indies reached 54/1 and lead was reduced to just 105.
But a young Wasim Akram ensured that West Indies could not go too much ahead in the game. From 178/ 4, West Indies were all out for 248 as Akram ran through the lower order and finished with 6/91 in 25 overs.
After conceding a lead of nearly a hundred, Pakistan fought well in the second innings. There were many significant contributions like Mohsin Khan (40), Saleem Yousuf (61) and Qasim Umar (48).
On 28th October, Wasim Akram was again a hero as he top-scored with 66 and added more than 100 runs in the last three wickets. Despite Pakistan’s 328 the target for West Indies was just 240. The West Indies chase never got going. Imran got Desmond Haynes early and followed it up with the wicket of Gordon Greenidge. Abdul Qadir was introduced early and he soon picked up Larry Gomes and the captain Viv Richards for a duck as West Indies were struggling at 19/4. They kept losing wickets to Imran and Qadir. 5th on 20, 6th on 23, 7th on 36, 8th on 42 and 9 the on 43.
The day ended with West Indies on 43/9, a mind-blowing scorecard. Imran took four and Qadir took five. The match was over early on day five as Qadir caught Marshall of his own bowling to get them all out for 53. He finished with 6/16 as 53 became the lowest Test total on Pakistan soil. Till now it remains the lowest total in Pakistan.
Video: West Indies all our for 53
