Live Cricket Score of Pakistan vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Day 3 at Abu Dhabi

Late strikes at the fag end of Day 2 gave Pakistan vice-like grip of the second Test. West Indies fought tooth and nail in the first two sessions to leave the door slightly ajar for a comeback. First and foremost, Shannon Gabriel snared his maiden five-fer to bowl out Pakistan for 452.

Darren Bravo then defended with his stout blade and nurdled and nudged it into the gaps to keep the scorecard ticking over. Yasir, however, prised the mainstay of the batting line-up, Bravo. With just about 10 minutes left for close of play, Samuels tamely poked at a delivery in the corridor outside off. The day ended with a horrible mix-up between Devendra Bishoo and Kraigg Brathwaite, leading to the latter's run-out.

At 106 for 4, West Indies are in a spot of bother and need a substantial stand to keep themselves in the hunt. The hosts, on the other hand, would look to make further inroads into the batting line-up.

Rahat Ali beat Bishoo's outside edge quite a bit. The left-arm pacer perhaps missed a trick by not bowling it a tad fuller. Blackwood then cracked a powerful pull off Yasir and the ball hit flush on the shin pads of Azhar Ali, positioned at short leg. Azhar grimaced with pain and eventually walked off the field with the physio. Hopefully, he will be fine.

Rahat Ali was finally rewarded for his perseverance as he dislodged Blackwood. He generated a hint of reverse swing away from the right-hander. However, Blackwood fell for it, as the left-arm pacer created a nice angle across the batsman to induce a half-hearted drive and Sarfraz Ahmed snaffled a fine catch behind the stumps.

Roston Chase was adjudged leg-before to a a very full delivery that reversed from Sohail Khan, but it felt as if the angle was taking it down leg. Not surprisingly, Chase took the review and replays confirmed that it was going down leg. However, Chase sustained a blow on the toe while trying to keep it out and had to receive treatment from the physio. He looks fine for now.

Sohail Khan richly deserved that wicket. He was generating reverse swing both ways. This time, from over the wicket, he got one to move away from the left-handed batsman and as Bishoo exposed his off-stump, Sohail took advantage of it by knocking it over. Good effort from Bishoo though.

In what turned out to be a battle of wills, Pakistan whittled away at the batting line-up to solidify their position at Lunch on Day 3. Blackwood and Bishoo were the two batsmen dismissed. The credit has to go to Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali for bowling with nagging control and generating reverse swing.

Bishoo and Roston Chase fought hard, but for West Indies to avoid the follow-on target, they need a few sizeable contributions.

Chase and Hope stonewalled Pakistan's spinners. Barring a long hop from Nawaz, the spinners were tidy enough, but couldn't make the breakthrough. Eventually, Pakistan took the second new ball after 80 overs. Yasir Shah got the chance to bowl with it and he immediately struck off his first ball.

Yasir deliciously tossed it up and Bishoo's half-hearted drive was nicely pouched by Shafiq at second slip.

It didn't take long for Yasir Shah to bag his third scalp. It was the slider from Yasir and Shai Hope attempted a slog across the line, but could only hear the death rattle. Poor shot selection from Hope, especially after gritting it out for 60 deliveries. Pakistan are just two wickets away from wrapping up the innings.

Cummins and Holder survived a few close calls. Holder was even dropped at mid-off by Nawaz off Yasir. Finally, Sohail ended the brief resistance by cleaning up Miguel Cummins. It swung away from the fast bowler to knock over the off-stump. A replica of Bishoo's dismissal as the tail-ender exposed his off-stump.

Finally, Gabriel tried one shot too many and gifted his wicket to Yasir Shah. It also turned out to be Yasir's fourth scalp of the innings. Despite having a lead of 228 runs, Pakistan decided to bat for the second time. Perhaps they thought that it would be better to give a bit of rest for the bowlers after toiling hard under the sweltering heat. Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan shared nine spoils between them for Pakistan.

Pakistan seemed to be intent on slowly grinding out the opposition. The hosts took their own time in the second innings as they collected runs at a trickle over two runs per over. For West indies, Gabriel took the review against Azhar Ali, but the ball-tracker indicated that it missed the leg-stump by a fair distance.

Azhar had a scare for the second time in the second dig, but escaped. He attempted to sweep off Brathwaite, but perhaps got a faint tickle on the way. The appeal was answered in the affirmative, but Azhar straightaway placed his belief in the review and got the decision overturned. More misery for the visitors!

Azhar Ali was dropped by Blackwood in the slip cordon off Chase. However, the duo of Asalm and Azhar collected runs with utmost ease. West Indies almost seemed to be going through their motions.

At fag end of the day, Aslam also composed his fourth half-century. West Indies then took yet another review after Aslam reached his fifty for a strangle down the leg-side, and it was overturned. Well, for a moment I was surprised as without the snicko and HotSpot hard to tell whether he edged it. Maybe there was a woody sound? I don't know.

Day 3 were a throwback to the bygone era of patience, resolve and defiance. Chase, Bishoo and Hope looked to block Pakistan's bowlers, but the class and quality of the home side's attack came to the fore.

The trio of Rahat, Sohail and Yasir shared nine scalps between them to bundle out the opposition for a mere 224. However, the home side decided to bat again. Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam then shared a useful union of 93 for the first wicket to put Pakistan in cruise mode. With a lead of 342 runs, the hosts hold all the aces. Pakistan will look to declare early on Day 4 and wrap up the three-match rubber series 2-0.