Yesterday he was not the bane of a disenchanted Caribbean public but rather, the toast of the party, – the West Indies skipper that marshalled his troops to a rare victory over Pakistan with a five-wicket haul at the Guyana National Stadium.
Sammy, bowling his medium pace, led the attack with 5-29, breaking the stranglehold of the spinners that captured the hogs’ share of the 40 wickets that fell over the four days. Pakistan eventually settled at 178 from 73 overs, chasing 219 on a pitch that was unpredictable up to final wicket. He, predictably, captured the Man-of-the-match award ahead of his debutant spinner Devendra Bishoo, fittingly giving the Windies their first win in a Test since they beat England in February of 2009.
Further, Sammy’s unbridled joy would not have been possible without the assistance of Ravi Rampaul, who complemented with 4-48 from his 21 overs. The fight of Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored 52 while sharing in an 80-run fourth wicket stance with Asad Shafiq (42), crumbled before his eyes as his team’s last five wickets fell for 35 runs despite another valiant effort from Umar Akmal, who scored 47. The end started earlier in the day when Shafiq was bowled by Rampaul for 42, adding two to his overnight score of 40, in the third over of the day. Another fruitful union was formed with ul-Haq and Akmal that yielded 42 runs before Sammy intervened and broke it with an lbw dismissal of the captain that was referred to the third umpire.
Ul-Haq’s innings lasted for 162 balls and included six boundaries. This opened the floodgates and two balls later in the 57th over Mohammad Salman’s review for lbw went upstairs to the third umpire and he was given out for zero. Sammy’s next two lbw victims, Umar Gul (1) and Akmal, set a record for the most dismissals in a match by that route, counting 20.
Rampaul returned and removed Abdur Rehman, caught at second slip for six, leaving Pakistan stuttering on 160-7. After that dismissal, it was just as matter of formality to wrap up the tail that was being guided by Akmal.
When Sammy uprooted the middle stump of Saeed Ajmal, who had been a thorn of the Caribbean side with his 11 wickets of spin in the match, the dismissal would end a contest by two faltering teams that battled in a see saw encounter over the most part of four days ending with a 1-0 lead the two-match series for the Caribbean side.
