On this day, more than two decades ago, a modern batting genius – Brian Lara – made his Test debut for West Indies against Pakistan in Lahore. Lara made his red-ball debut at the age of 21 during the last Test match of the three-match series between Pakistan and West Indies. The left-handed batsman scored just 49 runs (inclusive of first and second innings) in his first appearance for West Indies in whites, but was still a certainty in his shot selection and making him a star.
However, Lara’s debut match was not a memorable one for his side as it ended in a draw and in the process ended the three-match series 1-1, forcing West Indies and Pakistan to share the honours. .
After winning the toss, West Indies captain Desmond Haynes, opting to bat, was not well supported by his top-order batsmen as they lost their top three for just 37 runs. The then Pakistani captain Imran Khan gave his team the first breakthrough by removing his counterpart from the attack. After that, Wasim Akram trapped Richie Richardson in front of the wickets before Imran Khan extended the visitors’ innings to dismiss Gordon Greenidge.
Batting at number four, Lara added 95 runs for the fourth wicket with Carl Hooper to stabilize the Windies innings before Abdul Qadir removed him from the attack. Meanwhile, Hooper continued his attack from the other end as he scored 134 runs taking the Tourist to a respectable total of 294 runs in the process.
In reply, Pakistan failed to capitalize on the home advantage as they were bundled out for 122, giving West Indies a 177-run lead.
West Indies failed to replicate their first innings performance as they were bundled out for 173 runs during their second innings, setting Pakistan a target of 346 runs to win the match.
It was almost impossible for Pakistan to win this game as scoring 347 runs in the fourth innings is not an easy task for any team. Hence, they went for the second best option – a draw and were successful in their endeavours.
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