Pakistan cricket team will be heading into the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 next month after a humiliating 120-run loss at the hands of West Indies in the second and final Test at Multan on Monday. It was Pakistan’s first defeat at the hands of the Windies at home after a gap of 34 years. The result means that Shan Masood-led side will have to settle for a 1-1 draw with the West Indies in the two-match series.
Chasing an improbable target of 178 more runs to win on the third day with six wickets in hand, Pakistan was bundled out for just 133 on Day 3, as Jomel Warrican’s brilliant left-arm spin dismantled the hosts. The victory marked the West Indies’ first Test win in Pakistan in over 34 years.
Warrican starred with the ball, claiming 5/27 and finishing the series as the leading wicket-taker with 19 scalps. The defeat pushed Pakistan to the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, with both teams wrapping up their two-year campaigns.
34 years in the making!
West Indies claim their first win in Pakistan since 1990 to level the series!
Fun fact: Kemar Roach was just 4 at the time, and nobody else from the team was even born!
#PAKvWIonFanCode pic.twitter.com/I6o1iqrbGL
— FanCode (@FanCode) January 27, 2025
Resuming at 76/4, Pakistan’s hopes faded quickly as overnight batters Saud Shakeel and nightwatchman Kashif Ali departed without adding to the score. Kevin Sinclair (3/61) struck early, dismissing Shakeel in the slips off the third ball of the morning, while Warrican clean bowled Kashif in the next over.
Mohammad Rizwan (25) and Salman Ali Agha (15) attempted to resist, adding 39 runs before both succumbed to Warrican’s masterful spin. Salman survived an initial stumping scare but eventually fell lbw to a well-flighted delivery, while Rizwan misread a turning ball that crashed into his stumps.
Warrican sealed the win by clean bowling Sajid Khan, capping off a memorable match for the visitors. The victory was a remarkable turnaround for the West Indies, who had lost the first Test by 127 runs at the same venue and found themselves reeling at 38-7 on the opening day of the second match. However, their lower-order fightback lifted them to 163 all out, securing a slender nine-run first-innings lead.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s crucial half-century in the second innings helped the West Indies set a target of 253, which proved too challenging for Pakistan’s batters, who struggled against the visitors’ spinners on a turning pitch.
With this win, the West Indies finished eighth in the WTC standings, while Pakistan slipped to ninth. Meanwhile, Australia and South Africa have already booked their places in the final, set to take place at Lord’s in June.
Pakistan will now play a ODI tri-series against South Africa and New Zealand ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 which they host in a ‘hybrid’ manner at home and in Dubai from February 19.
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