Pakistan's spin bowlers, led by four-wicket Saeed Ajmal, gave them early control of the first Test against West Indies on Thursday. Off-spinner Ajmal ended the opening day with four for 63 from 29 overs, as West Indies, electing to bat, reached 209 for nine in their first innings.
Mohammad Hafeez, bowling off-spin, supported with two for 22 from 13 overs, and Abdur Rehman captured two for 46 from 26 overs. Gaining appreciable turn and bounce from an unpredictable Guyana National Stadium pitch, the spinners created headaches for the West Indies' batsman, several of whom got starts, but failed to carry on. Hafeez gave an early indication of what to expect, when he shared the new ball with Umar Gul, and bowled Devon Smith in the sixth over of the match.
It was the fourth straight time that Hafeez had dismissed the West Indies left-handed opener, stretching back to the preceding one-day series. Lendl Simmons, whose 49 was the top score for West Indies, and compatriot Darren Bravo held firm for the remainder of the morning period, taking West Indies to 66 for one lunch.
Pakistan continued to tighten their grip, when Wahab Riaz trapped Bravo lbw for 25 in the third over after the interval. Riaz also interrupted the West Indies' flow when he struck Simmons on his left knee, and forced him to retire hurt on 41, leaving the home team on 81 for two.
Pakistan ran into defiance when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies' two most experienced batsmen, came together, and spent just over 90 minutes in astute consolidation. Rehman made a decisive breakthrough however, when he had Sarwan caught behind for 23, top-edging a cut, and requiring New Zealand umpire Tony Hill to review his not-out verdict, to leave West Indies 131 for three at tea. After tea, Ajmal and Rehman continued to apply the pressure, and things fell apart for West Indies in dramatic fashion.
Ajmal gained lbw verdicts to dismiss Brendan Nash for five, and Carlton Baugh for four before Rehman had West Indies captain Darren Sammy caught at deep mid-on for 12. But Ajmal swung fortunes firmly Pakistan's way when he bowled the obdurate Chanderpaul for 27 with a doosra that spun sharply out of the rough outside the left-hander's off-stump. Ajmal also trapped Simmons lbw after the batsman returned to the middle following the dismissal of Sammy, and Hafeez too, gained an lbw decision to remove Ravi Rampaul for 14.

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Scoreboard West Indies
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D. Smith b M Hafeez                13
L. Simmons lbw b S Ajmal           49
Darren Bravo lbw b Wahab           25
R. Sarwan c Salman b A Rehman      23
S. Chanderpaul b Saeed Ajmal       27
B. Nash lbw b Saeed Ajmal           5
C. Baugh lbw b Saeed Ajmal          4
D. Sammy c U Akmal b A Rehman      12
K. Roach not out                   16
R. Rampaul lbw b M Hafeez          14
D. Bishoo not out                  10
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Extras: (b1, lb7, w1, nb2)         11
Total: (9 wickets)                209
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Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Smith), 2-71 (Bravo), 3-127 (Sarwan), 4-136 (Nash), 5-142 (Baugh), 6-159 (Sammy), 7-162 (Chanderpaul), 8-175 (Simmons), 9-198 (Rampaul). Bowling: Umar Gul 13-0-40-0; Mohammad Hafeez 13-5-22-2; Abdur Rehman 26-9-46-2; Saeed Ajmal 29-12-63-4; Wahab Riaz 9-1-30-1 (nb2, w1) Overs: 90
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Salman, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: B. Bowden (NZL), A. Hill (NZL)
TV umpire: A. de Silva (SRI)
Match referee: A. Hurst (AUS)
Reserve umpire: N. Malcolm (WIS).
Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar guided Pakistan to 45 for one in their first innings, after they lost an early wicket before lunch, in the opening Test against West Indies on Friday. Azhar was not out on 27 and Taufeeq was not out on 13 at the interval as Pakistan started their reply to West Indies' first innings total of 226 on the second day of the Test at the Guyana National Stadium.
Pakistan lost opener Mohammad Hafeez - their most prolific batsman in the preceding one-day series - in the second over of their innings, when he was bowled for four, dragging a delivery from Ravi Rampaul into his stumps.
But Azhar and Taufeeq made steady progress in between a couple alarming moments.
Taufeeq was fortunate on one when he edged a rising ball from Rampaul between second slip and gully for his first boundary.
West Indies raised his heart rate again when he was on five, appealing unsuccessfully for a caught behind off the same bowler.
Azhar hardly placed a foot wrong and got into the thick of things with a square drive through cover and a back-foot cover drive from successive deliveries in Kemar Roach's fifth over. Earlier, Pakistan needed half an hour to complete the demolition of the West Indies first innings, after the hosts resumed from their overnight total of 209 for nine. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal suffered the indignity of Roach smashing a searing drive through cover for his third boundary, but he had the last laugh when he had the West Indies fast bowler caught at forward short leg for a Test-best 24 from bat-pad, playing defensively forward.
Ajmal finished with the impressive figures of five for 69 from 33 overs, fellow off-spinner Hafeez supported with two for 22 off 13 overs, and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman captured two for 51 from 29 overs. Pakistan are seeking their maiden Test series victory in the Caribbean.