MULTAN, Pakistan — The West Indies experienced a dramatic collapse, ultimately being bowled out for just 137 runs in a single session on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan, as spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan were dominant. Throughout the day, a total of 19 wickets fell, with the spinners claiming 17 of those.

After Pakistan had found themselves dismissed for 230 runs in their first innings on a pitch that heavily favored spinners, they increased their lead to 202 runs by reaching 109-3 at stumps. Pakistan’s captain, Shan Masood, delivered a solid performance, scoring 52 off just 60 balls, marking his 11th half-century in Test cricket. He was run out later in the day’s play, with Kamran Ghulam remaining not out on 9.

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali was particularly impressive, achieving figures of 5-39, while off-spinner Sajid Khan bewildered the West Indies batsmen, taking 4-65. This same pitch had previously seen both spinners take all 20 wickets during a Test match against England last October.

Among the West Indies’ top seven batsmen, only captain Kraigg Brathwaite managed to score into double figures with an effort of 11 runs. Remarkably, Khan and Ali bowled 14 of the deliveries faced by the visitors before they were bowled out in a mere 25.2 overs. The West Indies faced significant trouble at 91-9, but an unexpected aggressive partnership of 46 runs off 21 balls between Jomel Warrican (31 not out) and Jayden Seales (22) helped the team cross the 100-run threshold.

This innings marked one of the lowest scores by the West Indies in terms of balls faced, trailing only behind their dismissal against Pakistan in 2006, when they were bowled out for 73 runs in just 24.5 overs. The opening batsmen struggled drastically against the turning deliveries from Khan, who took four wickets in his first three overs with the new ball. Khan’s spell began by dismissing both Mikyle Louis and Keacy Carty in consecutive balls, with Carty’s dismissal resulting in a spectacular catch at slips by debutant Mohammad Hurraira.

Khan’s next target was Brathwaite, who got clean bowled trying to sweep another sharply spinning ball. Alick Athanaze soon followed, offering a catch back to Khan, which left the team in a perilous position at 22-4 within just five overs. Noman Ali then joined in, taking the final wicket of Gudakesh Motie (19) with a clean bowled delivery as the West Indies’ innings ended before tea.

Earlier in the day, the West Indies spinners also took advantage of the conditions, bowling out Pakistan just before lunch after the home team had resumed their innings at 143-4. Left-arm spinner Warrican had a notable outing, taking 3-69, with Kevin Sinclair contributing 2-61 by capturing crucial wickets, including Saud Shakeel (84) and Mohammad Rizwan (71). Pakistan witnessed a dramatic loss of their last six wickets for just 43 runs.

Shakeel and Rizwan had formed a formidable fifth-wicket partnership that extended to 141 runs before the latter half of the innings unravelled rapidly. The pair had dominated the West Indies spinning attack until Sinclair removed Shakeel shortly after the first drinks break with a delivery that caught the edge of his bat.

Across his innings, Shakeel struck six boundaries in a total of 157 deliveries. Pakistan found themselves in trouble earlier in the match, having been reduced to 46-4 after Seales’ (3-27) impressive bowling on Day 1. The spinners’ ability to extract significant turn and a few low deliveries contributed to Pakistan’s subsequent collapse, as they lost three wickets quickly.

Rizwan, who was effective in his time at the crease with nine fours in a stay of just over three hours, fell victim to Sinclair, who bowled a full delivery that the batsman attempted to reverse sweep, resulting in an LBW. The ninth-wicket pair of Khan (18) and Khurram Shahzad (7) formed the team’s second-best partnership of the innings, putting together 25 runs before Warrican wrapped up the innings by taking both wickets in consecutive overs.

In terms of the World Test Championship points table, Pakistan stands at No. 8 while West Indies is slightly lower at No. 9 due to their underwhelming performances in the past year. Meanwhile, Australia and South Africa have already secured their spots in the WTC final scheduled to take place from June 11-15 at Lord’s.