Honourable draw for West Indies in test

Press, 29 December 1980, Page 26

Honourable draw for West Indies in test

NZPA Karachi Bearded Wasim Raja hit a match-saving 77 not out to steer Pakistan to an honour,able draw with the West Indies in the third cricket test on Saturday After trailing by 41 runs on first innings, Pakistan was nine for 204 in its second innings when the fiveday test ended 25 minutes befor? the planned close. Wasim, batting coolly and resolutely, came to the rescue after the match had seemed to be going the West Indies way, with four Pakistan wickets down for only 82 runs an hour before lunch. s

Tail-enders Iqbal Qasim and Nazir Junior gave Wasim valuable support at a crucial time, though each scored only two runs.

Iqbal stayed in a ninthwicket partnership of 28 with Wasim and Nazir held on in an unbeaten tenthwicket stand of 26. Pakistan opened the day on one for 70. In the first over it had an escape when Majid Khan was dropped by Clive Lloyd off Colin Croft,

but the West Indies soon broke through. .... .. ..... Sylvester Clarke had Sadiq Mohammad caught by Faoud Bacchus at silly mid* on after he had added only three runs to his overnight 33.-Two runs later, with 78 on the board, Majid fell ta Croft, also having increased his score by only three runs on Saturday* to 18. Then Croft dismissed Zaheer Abbas for one and Clarke sent back Javed Miandad for five to make it five for 85 and the. West Indies appeared to be on the victory trail. But Wasim, assisted by stubborn tail-end resistance, held off the accurate and determined West Indies attack to give Pakistan a chance of . squaring the series. iWth one more test to come the West Indies lead the four-match series 1-0. After the match, Pakistani skipper, Javed Miandad, and West Indies manager, Jackie Hendriks, praised Wasim’s innings. Javed said that the rain* spoiled wicket was uncer* tain, with an uneven bounce, and created difficulties for batsmen.