Eight matches without a win away from home. Three long years without a Test victory on foreign soil. That drought is over. Something changed at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. A player who nearly retired came back. Spinners nobody expected bowled West Indies out twice. And a captain sealed the win with back-to-back sixes. Pakistan cricket is breathing again. Check out how Pakistan End 8-Match Away Drought by winning against West Indies.
The Win That Ended Everything
Pakistan ended its eight-match losing streak away from home in Test matches with a resounding eight-wicket victory over West Indies in the second and final Test on Wednesday.
Pakistan made short work of West Indies on the fourth morning, cruising to an eight-wicket win with little drama. West Indies lower order was polished off inside half an hour. Pakistan needed just 75 to win. They got there before lunch on Day 4.
Shafique: The Emergency Replacement Who Became the Hero
Abdullah Shafique flew in as an emergency replacement for Shan Masood. Nobody expected what followed.
Pakistan 387 was built around Shafique 160 not out and Babar 88. Warrican took 6 for 112 but could not stop Pakistan from taking a first innings lead of 43 runs. Shafique’s 160 was his highest Test score. It was his seventh Test century. It was also a statement by a player who had been out of the side for months.
Shafique said this comeback match felt like a debut for him. He had been working hard for the last one year and was waiting for his opportunity. It came at an unexpected time but he grabbed it with both hands.
The Spinners Who Dismissed West Indies Twice
The real heroes of this Test were Pakistan’s two spinners. They bowled West Indies out for 117 in the second innings and created an unassailable position.
Off-break bowler Sajid Khan took 4 for 32 and left-arm spinner Ali Usman took 4 for 39 as the pair shared eight wickets between them in the second innings. Sajid had already taken 4 for 85 in the first innings. His match figures of 8 for 117 were the defining contribution of the entire Test.
The pitch turned significantly from Day 3 onwards. Pakistan used that perfectly. West Indies had no answers to the combined spin of Sajid and Ali Usman on a deteriorating surface.
Babar Seals It With Two Sixes
Pakistan’s chase of 75 began tentatively. They lost two early wickets. Imam-ul-Haq was brilliantly caught by Greaves in the slips for 9. Azan Awais was bowled by Shamar Joseph for 18.
Then Shafique and Babar came together again. They had already shared a first innings partnership of 168. They needed just 57 this time. Babar danced down the wicket to deposit Jomel Warrican for successive sixes to secure the win. It broke their eight-match losing streak away from home. Pakistan head to England with genuine momentum.
Babar’s Second Captaincy Gets his First Win
This was Babar Azam’s second stint as Test captain. His first series back started with a 90-run loss in Tarouba. There were serious questions about whether he could turn things around.
Babar said he was always satisfied with the win. It was an important one. He added it was tough but they did well to come back. His 88 in the first innings and his unbeaten 24 in the chase were exactly the contributions his captaincy revival needed. His full captaincy record across both stints is explored in detail in our piece on Babar Azam’s captaincy records and seven biggest achievements.
Player of the Match and Series Awards
Abdullah Shafique won the Player of the Match award without question. His 160 not out was the innings of the match. His composure across five days under enormous personal pressure was outstanding.
The Player of the Series award was shared between Justin Greaves and Babar Azam. Greaves took five wickets in Pakistan’s first innings and contributed crucial runs throughout the series. Babar was Pakistan’s most consistent performer with the bat across both Tests combined. Sharing the award reflected a closely contested series that ended 1-1 between two evenly matched sides.
What the Scoreline Means for Pakistan
The series ending 1-1 is a fair result. West Indies won the first Test convincingly. Pakistan bounced back brilliantly in the second. It was the third successive series between these sides to produce a 1-1 scoreline.
More importantly, Pakistan have broken their away losing streak. They head to England for three Tests starting August 19 with genuine momentum. Three weeks ago, nobody would have predicted that. The England tour now feels like a genuine opportunity rather than a damage limitation exercise.
What Made This Win Special
Several individual stories came together to produce this result. Masood’s injury created a vacancy. Shafique filled it with 160. Two spinners nobody expected to dominate did exactly that. Babar ended the match with sixes rather than surviving by his fingernails.
Pakistan won their first away Test match under Babar Azam, the same man under whose leadership they had won away last time in July 2023. That context makes this result even more significant.
It is not just a win. The tradition of Pakistan producing great performances when their backs are against the wall is one of the defining threads in our piece on the best cricket players in Pakistan cricket history.
Conclusion
Pakistan walked off Queen’s Park Oval on Day 4 as winners for the first time in three years of away Tests. Shafique came back from nowhere and scored 160. The spinners bowled West Indies out for 117. Babar sealed it with sixes. An eight-match away losing streak is history. England comes next. After what just happened in Port of Spain, nobody should be writing Pakistan off.
