A gritty knock by Shan Masood in his first innings after being removed as Pakistan Test captain allowed his side to put a stranglehold over the West Indies at stumps on the second day of the first cricket Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba on Sunday.

After fast bowler Mohammad Ali picked up four for 50 to dismiss the West Indies for 311 after the home side had resumed the day at 194 for three, Shan carried the momentum forward with a mixture of aggression, defence, purpose and, of course, luck to return unbeaten on a timely and marvellous 88 as Pakistan closed the day at 199 for three.

With Shan was Salman Ali Agha, who had yet to open his account.

After opener Azan Awais scored a nine-ball duck, castled neck and crop by Kemar Roach, Imam-ul-Haq was the second Pakistan batter to be dismissed after scoring a well-constructed and fluent 63. The only casual and flashy shot the left-hander played in his 102-ball innings brought his demise when Justin Greaves caught him in the slips off fast bowler Shamar Joseph. Babar Azam was the third batter to be dismissed, caught at the wicket off Jayden Seales for a 38-ball 23 that included three fours.

Imam’s 102-ball innings was laced with seven sparkling fours, while he brought his 11th career half-century in his 28th appearance when he exquisitely struck Kemar Roach for his sixth four in 81 balls.

Together with Shan, Imam added 155 runs from 192 balls for the second wicket after Azan returned to the hut at the total of one in the third over. This was Pakistan’s highest second-wicket partnership in the Caribbean.

Shan, after racing to his half-century from 46 balls with nine fours, dropped anchor as his next 38 runs came from 91 balls and included two fours. His 137-ball innings is studded with 11 fours.

During his innings, Shan fully utilised the luck for the bigger cause. This included three possible dropped catches in the arc behind the stumps, one close caught-behind appeal upheld by technology, a couple of inside edges for fours and two very close lbw shouts at Richard Kettleborough’s end, which on any other day would have gone against the left-hander. But these let-offs cannot take anything away from the resolve and commitment Shan demonstrated during his innings, particularly given the manner in which his dismissal as Test captain was handled and publicised by his employers.

Nonetheless, both Imam and Shan played methodical and calculated knocks, taking the attack to the West Indies as Pakistan raced to 100 in 19.4 overs and 150 in 32.1 overs.

Imam and Shan were positive in their approach and played with intent, not allowing the three 135kph-plus West Indies quick bowlers to settle down with line and length. The two also took advantage of the fresh and hard red cherry by hitting well-timed strokes for boundaries, and also demonstrated the value of singles and doubles when they nudged the ball into gaps as the West Indies set an aggressive field.

With Pakistan still trailing the West Indies by 112 runs with seven wickets intact, the tourists will be aiming to take a sizeable first-innings lead so that it dilutes and nullifies the change in behaviour of the playing surface that is expected to offer more assistance to the spinners later in the Test.

Earlier, Pakistan’s fast bowlers produced a brilliant performance after an ordinary showing on the opening day, grabbing seven West Indies wickets for 117 runs, including five wickets for 54 runs with the second new ball, as the home side was dismissed for 311.

Of the seven West Indies wickets to fall on Sunday, including the last three for seven runs, four were caught in the slips, one at the wicket, one adjudged lbw and one clean bowled. This snapshot itself speaks for the accuracy, line and length maintained by Mohammad Ali, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas, who shared nine of the 10 wickets between them, with the last picked up by all-rounder Aamir Jamal.

Mohammad Ali, who was wicketless on Saturday, came back strongly on Sunday morning to capture four wickets for 29 runs to finish with impressive figures of 21.5-5-50-4. Ali had Justin Greaves (15) and Shamar Joseph (23) caught in the slips by Salman Ali Agha, pinned West Indies captain Shai Hope in front of the wickets, and bowled last-man Jayden Seales.

Ali achieved the success after Khurram Shahzad dismissed overnight batter Kavem Hodge on the 13th ball of the day – caught again by Salman Ali Agha in the slips. Khurram added the scalp of Kemar Roach, caught by Babar Azam in the second slips, to finish with figures of two for 66.

Mohammad Abbas, Pakistan’s old war horse, had Roston Chase caught at the wicket to end with figures of three for 63 from 26 overs.

Ali, Abbas and Khurram will also be thankful to Salman Ali Agha, who took four catches in the slips, becoming the ninth Pakistan fielder to take four catches in a Test innings after Wallis Mathias, Hanif Mohammad (twice), Aamer Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saleem Elahi, Taufeeq Umar (twice), Younis Khan and Imam-ul-Haq.

Amidst all the positives with the ball, the only worry for fast bowling coach Umar Gul would be the 10 no-balls the fast bowlers bowled. These did not cost them dearly this time, but in a game of very small margins and tight finishes, these can prove to be the difference between winning and losing a Test or a series.

For the West Indies, captain Shai Hope was unlucky to miss his century by eight runs when he was dismissed for 92. He had started the day at 39 and added 53 runs to his overnight score. His 182-ball innings, spanning 310 minutes at the crease, included six fours and a six.

Hodge, who began the day at 83, added one run to his overnight score, while Shamar Joseph scored a quickfire 23 from 13 balls with four fours and a six.

Scores in brief (day 2 of 5):

West Indies (1st innings, overnight 194-3, 67 overs) 311 all-out, 98.5 overs (Shai Hope 92, Kavem Hodge 84, Shamar Joseph 23, Amir Jangoo 21, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 21; Mohammad Ali 4-50, Mohammad Abbas 3-63, Khurram Shahzad 2-66)

Pakistan (1st innings) 199-3, 48 overs (Shan Masood 88 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 63, Babar Azam 23, Salman Ali Agha 0 not out).