West Indies Beat Pakistan by 90 Runs in 1st Test at Tarouba
Published on July 29, 2026
Summary Overview: West Indies stunned Pakistan by 90 runs in the 1st Test at Tarouba. Greaves, Abbas and Seales all took five-fors as Pakistan collapsed despite Babar Azam's unbeaten 58.
West Indies Steal It Back: Pakistan Were in Control, Then Lost the Tarouba Test by 90 Runs
By Cricket Daily
Pakistan spent two days looking like the team that would win this match. They lost it inside four.
West Indies beat Pakistan by 90 runs in the first Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad, turning a game they were behind in into a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Three different bowlers took five wickets in an innings, forty wickets fell to fast bowling alone, and a Pakistan batting order that had looked settled fell apart twice.
If you only follow the scoreline, it reads clean: West Indies 311 and 181, Pakistan 282 and 120. The story underneath is a lot messier, and a lot more interesting.
How Pakistan controlled the first two days
West Indies won the toss and batted first. Shai Hope made 92 and Kavem Hodge 84, and those two got the hosts to 311. That is a fair total but not a huge one, the kind of score a strong batting side can chase down and pass.
Pakistan looked like exactly that side. By the end of day two they were 199 for 3, with captain Shan Masood unbeaten on 88 and only three batsmen out. In cricket terms, that is a commanding position. They were closing in on West Indies' total with plenty of wickets in hand, and the game was tilting their way.
Masood went on the next morning to bring up 109, his seventh Test century and the first hundred ever scored at this brand new Test venue. Imam-ul-Haq had chipped in with 63 earlier. Everything was set up for Pakistan to build a big first-innings lead.
Then it stopped.
The Greaves spell that dragged West Indies back in
Justin Greaves is the reason this game turned. He took 5 wickets for 27 runs as Pakistan's innings folded from a position of strength all the way to 282 all out.
A "five-for," or five-wicket haul, is the individual bowling landmark in cricket, the equivalent of a batsman scoring a hundred. Taking five wickets in a single innings is hard, and it usually means one bowler personally broke the back of the opposition. That is what Greaves did.
Instead of the big lead Pakistan were building toward, they finished only 29 runs ahead. West Indies had escaped, and the match was level again.
West Indies didn't bat well either, and it still worked
Here is the part that makes this result look strange on paper. West Indies were not good in their second innings. They managed just 181, with Alzarri Joseph's 38 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul's 35 the top scores.
Pakistan's bowlers earned that. Mohammad Abbas was superb, taking 5 for 22, his own five-for of the match. Mohammad Ali had already taken 4 for 50 in the first innings, so Pakistan's pace attack did its job at both ends of the game.
But 181 was enough, because it left Pakistan needing 211 to win. On a pitch where the ball was doing plenty and every wicket in the match fell to fast bowling, 211 was never going to be simple.
Babar stood alone as the chase collapsed
Pakistan's second innings is where the match was actually lost. They were bowled out for 120, nowhere near the 211 they needed.
Babar Azam was the one batsman who looked comfortable. He finished unbeaten on 58, playing with control while wickets fell at the other end. The problem was that nobody stayed with him. The next-best contribution was 23 from number eleven Mohammad Abbas, which tells you how little support Babar got from the specialist batsmen above him.
The man doing the damage was Jayden Seales, who took 5 for 18. That completed the set: a five-for for West Indies in each of Pakistan's innings, first Greaves, then Seales, both earning a place on the ground's honours board.
Everyone who hit the milestones
For quick reference, here are the standout individual performances from the match.
Five-wicket hauls:
- Justin Greaves, 5 for 27 (Pakistan first innings)
- Mohammad Abbas, 5 for 22 (West Indies second innings)
- Jayden Seales, 5 for 18 (Pakistan second innings)
Fifty-plus scores:
- Shan Masood, 109 (Pakistan first innings), a century
- Shai Hope, 92 (West Indies first innings)
- Kavem Hodge, 84 (West Indies first innings)
- Imam-ul-Haq, 63 (Pakistan first innings)
- Babar Azam, 58 not out (Pakistan second innings)
Mohammad Ali also took 4 for 50 in the first innings, just short of a five-for, so Pakistan's pace unit deserves plenty of credit even in defeat.
Justin Greaves was named player of the match for his five-wicket haul and his role in the collapse that turned the game.
Two records worth noting
This was the first Test ever played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, making it the newest ground on the international Test map. Shan Masood's 109 was the first Test century scored there.
The match also produced a rare piece of trivia: all 40 wickets were taken by fast bowlers, with no spinner claiming a single one. That has only happened a handful of times before in Test cricket in the Caribbean.
What this means for the series
West Indies lead the two-match series 1-0 with one to play. Pakistan will point to the fact that they controlled long stretches of this game and were on top after two days. West Indies will point to the only thing that counts, which is that their bowlers found a way back into a match they were losing and then finished it off ruthlessly.
Pakistan's batting outside of Masood and Babar is the obvious worry heading into the second Test. Two collapses in one match, from strong positions, is not a one-off you can wave away.
Next up: the second Test at Queen's Park Oval
The two sides move straight into the decider. The second and final Test runs from 2 to 6 August 2026 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and it carries real weight in the World Test Championship standings.
The maths is simple. Pakistan have to win to square the series 1-1. West Indies, led by Roston Chase, take the series with either a win or a draw, so the pressure sits squarely on the tourists.
For Pakistan, the questions are the same ones this match exposed. Can anyone stand up alongside Babar Azam and Shan Masood, and can their fast bowlers, who bowled well enough to win here, get more runs to defend? They have already added batting cover to the squad for the rest of the tour. West Indies will simply want more of what worked in Tarouba: relentless fast bowling and the belief that they can drag a game back even from behind.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 1st Test between West Indies and Pakistan in 2026? West Indies won by 90 runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Who was the player of the match? Justin Greaves, for his 5 for 27 in Pakistan's first innings.
Which bowlers took five wickets in the match? Three of them: Justin Greaves (5-27), Mohammad Abbas (5-22) and Jayden Seales (5-18).
How did Pakistan lose after being in control? They were 199 for 3 at the end of day two but collapsed to 282 all out, then were bowled out for 120 chasing 211. Babar Azam's unbeaten 58 was the only real resistance in the fourth innings.
What was significant about the venue? It was the first Test ever held at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, and Shan Masood scored the ground's first Test century.
When and where is the second Test? The second and final Test runs from 2 to 6 August 2026 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Pakistan need to win to level the series at 1-1, while a win or a draw hands West Indies the series.