Something shifted at Queen’s Park Oval on Day 2. A player who flew in as an emergency replacement walked out and batted like he owned the place. The captain who had been under scrutiny all tour finally played the innings his fans had been waiting for. Pakistan end the day daring to believe. Day 3 cannot come soon enough but for now Pakistan in Command in 2nd Test.
West Indies Bowled Out for 344 in the Morning
Day 2 began with West Indies still batting. Justin Greaves was unbeaten on 52 overnight. Roston Chase was on 32. Pakistan needed to bowl them out cheaply.
West Indies were eventually dismissed for 344. The final wicket fell at lunch on Day 2 after 105.4 overs. Jomel Warrican was the last man out for 5. Pakistan had conceded a competitive but not insurmountable first innings lead.
Greaves and Chase Add Crucial Morning Runs
Greaves and Chase frustrated Pakistan’s bowlers in the morning session. They extended their overnight partnership significantly. Greaves reached a well-deserved half-century before eventually falling.
Jomel Warrican took 1 for 68 in his bowling spell. West Indies squeezed out every possible run from their lower order. The final total of 344 gave them a decent cushion. But it was not enough to make Pakistan’s task feel impossible.
Azan Awais Gives Pakistan a Flying Start
Pakistan’s response began immediately after lunch. Azan Awais opened with extraordinary confidence. He attacked the West Indies bowlers from the very first over.
Azan Awais scored 47 before falling in the 20.5th over. He put on a 50-run second wicket partnership with Shafique in just 53 balls. His aggression completely set the tone for everything that followed. His dismissal came via a review that was upheld by DRS.
Abdullah Shafique Produces a Masterclass
The real story of Day 2 belongs entirely to Abdullah Shafique. He arrived as an emergency replacement for Shan Masood. He had minimal preparation time. He walked out and batted like he had been in the middle for a week.
Shafique ended the day unbeaten on 107 off 185 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. This was his sixth Test century and one of the most important of his career. An emergency replacement scoring a century in a must-win Test is not just remarkable cricket. It is the kind of story Pakistan cricket desperately needed right now.
How Shafique Built His Innings
Shafique was not reckless. He was disciplined and patient early. He respected the good ball and punished anything loose. As the pitch flattened and his timing improved, the boundaries started coming regularly.
The commentary described him as allowing the ball past him outside off and then making contact to find the third man boundary. That late cut off a good length delivery showed how well he was reading the pitch conditions. Credit to Shafique, it showed how slowly the ball was coming off the pitch yet he still found the boundary.
Babar Azam Finally Delivers the Innings Pakistan Needed
Babar Azam has been under intense pressure on this tour. He scored 23 and 36 in the first Test. Both were fighting knocks but neither changed the result. Day 2 of the second Test was different.
Babar was unbeaten on 86 at stumps. He looked fluent from the minute he got to the middle. He picked the length early, rocked back, and hammered the short ball. His fifty came with a pull shot off a short delivery that flew to the boundary. The captain looked like himself again. He also now holds the highest average for a Pakistan captain in Tests among those with a minimum number of innings.
The Partnership That Changed Everything
The Shafique-Babar partnership was the heart of Pakistan’s day. They batted together for the entire afternoon and evening sessions. Not a single wicket fell between them.
Their unbeaten third-wicket stand put Pakistan in a strong position at 266 for 2, trailing West Indies by just 78 runs with eight first innings wickets in hand. That is a position of genuine strength.
Pakistan bat deep enough to believe they can take a first innings lead on Day 3. A century partnership built on mutual trust and application became the defining feature of Pakistan’s response.
What Babar Azam’s Innings Means for His Captaincy
This innings matters beyond just the runs. Babar’s captaincy second stint was starting under a cloud after losing the first Test. His personal performances were being questioned alongside his leadership decisions.
An unbeaten 86 in a series-levelling position silences those questions temporarily. It does not erase the first Test. But it changes the conversation heading into Day 3. His record of leading Pakistan through high-pressure Test matches and delivering with the bat in the most important moments is explored in detail in our piece on Babar Azam’s captaincy records and seven biggest achievements. This innings may become one of the most important additions to that record.
Justin Greaves Injury Clouds West Indies Day
There was unwelcome news for West Indies during Pakistan’s batting. Justin Greaves, their Player of the Match from the first Test, picked up an injury during the day. He was not his regular self with the ball, trying to compensate but it was not working.
His absence from full bowling duties weakened West Indies’ attack significantly in the afternoon sessions. It partly explains how Shafique and Babar were able to bat so freely. West Indies will be desperate for a fitness update on their all-rounder ahead of Day 3.
The Biggest Pakistani batting performances in Test
Shafique’s emergency century in a must-win Test fits perfectly into a long tradition of Pakistan batters rising to the biggest occasions. Players who were written off, overlooked, or brought in at short notice have repeatedly delivered for Pakistan at Test level when the pressure was highest.
That tradition of batting resilience in the most challenging circumstances is one of the defining threads running through our piece on the best cricket players in Pakistan cricket history.
Conclusion
Pakistan end Day 2 in a position nobody predicted when they arrived at Queen’s Park Oval trailing 1-0 and missing their best batter. Shafique’s century is the story of the Test so far. Babar’s 86 is the statement his captaincy needed. West Indies have a 78-run lead but eight Pakistan wickets remain. Day 3 at Port of Spain could decide not just this Test but the entire series. Pakistan dare to dream again.
