Big picture: WI start as favourites

There were passages of play in Tarouba that illustrated why West Indies and Pakistan are ranked so close together in Test cricket, but also phases which showed where they diverge. West Indies made the most of a quicker pace attack and the recent shot of confidence they had earned from a home series win against Sri Lanka against a Pakistan side that possessed no pace and no confidence in this format. West Indies will look to wrap up a series win in Port-of-Spain, the more traditional Test venue in Trinidad. The hosts are now clearer favourites than they were before their 90-run win a week ago.

West Indies suddenly find themselves in a decent place in Test cricket. It has been more than four years since they last went three successive Tests without defeat. They have a pace attack that balances experience and dynamism, as well as seasoned spin options. The batting may be a clear vulnerability, but against sides like Pakistan who demonstrate the seam weakness, they retain an ability to outgun them with the ball. Against Sri Lanka, and in the first Test, they showed the patience to build up to a position of strength in the game, and fought their way back when they were behind in the game.

For the hosts, the challenge is not to let inconsistency creep in after a game where they maintained their level for the best part of four days. The batters might not match the bowlers' class, but they dug in despite unhelpful conditions and gave the pace bowlers just about enough to work with. West Indies refused to let the game run away from them when Pakistan were dominating, hanging onto their coattails and timing their pounce to perfection. They have the mental edge over the visitors, and if they can prevent their level from dropping, should be confident of success again.

For Pakistan, the picture is significantly bleaker, especially with their almost habitual tendency to fold under pressure even against evenly matched teams or from in-game situations where they might have an advantage. It isn't so long since they were just 67 runs behind the West Indies' first-innings total with seven wickets in hand. A side with more belief would have gone on to post a chunky lead, but Pakistan, whose lower-order weakness and vulnerability in the third and fourth innings has now become something of an epidemic, went on to lose their next 16 wickets for 109 runs.

However, it remains true that, on paper, these sides are relatively comparable in quality. Shan Masood's injury hasn't helped, but all bar one of Pakistan's top seven have superior batting averages to their West Indies counterparts. In Babar Azam, whatever his concerns with loss of form, Pakistan have a batter of a pedigree simply not found in the West Indies line-up. If Pakistan hadn't endured such a dismal time of late in Test cricket, the sides' respective batting would be talked up as a clear point of difference.

Mohammad Abbas' lack of pace, meanwhile, has not stopped him posting elite numbers in Test cricket, or running through West Indies in the first Test. His bowling compatriots are not in his league, but against a modest West Indies line-up, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad still enjoyed spells of dominance.

It is, again, two flawed sides facing off, though one showed how to get over the line while the other, for three years away from home, has not tasted that winning feeling. They have the potential to change that, but as West Indies showed, they are well equipped to hold Pakistan off.

Form guide

West Indies: WDWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first) Pakistan: LLLLW

In the spotlight: Chanderpaul and Shafique

Scores of 21 and 35 do not exactly suggest match-influencing performances, but Tagenarine Chanderpaul - as you might expect of the cricketer and the family name - scrapped in a Test dominated by bowlers at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. During both knocks, Chanderpaul refused to give his wicket away in sessions where the Pakistan bowlers dominated, seeing off the new ball on the first morning and hanging tough when West Indies were reduced to 43 for 4 in the third innings. It helped add 56 handy runs, but he also saw off 178 balls, just 21 fewer than the most for a batter in this Test, wearing out the Pakistan attack and fighting through challenging passages of play that gave his side the breathing room to turn momentum around. In a series where bowling prowess, for both sides, trumps batting ability, Pakistan miss that steel at the top of the order, and as the first Test showed, it can make a difference.

Abdullah Shafique has endured a difficult time in international cricket for the best part of three years. Since he made a whirlwind start to Test cricket, the form has tailed off since the end of 2022, and he has dropped down the pecking order. While his last 31 innings have yielded a modest 754 runs at 25.13, he has, even in this rougher period, demonstrated the ability to chip in with occasional, albeit inconsistent, contributions. He scored a century in Multan against England in 2024 and a half-century in Rawalpindi against a tricky South African attack last year. With Masood out with injury, there is a top-order slot to be grabbed, and Shafique has been handed an opportunity to take it.

Team news

West Indies will want more from their batting line-up, though the overall combination worked well enough to make changes unlikely.

West Indies (possible): 1 Tagenarine Chanderpaul, 2 Brandon King, 3 Kavem Hodge, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Amir Jangoo, 6 Justin Greaves, 7 Roston Chase (capt), 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Shamar Joseph, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jayden Seales

Pakistan have deeper questions to answer. Masood is out of the Test with a fractured finger, and Shafique will replace him. They also have to reckon with an unbalanced middle order, one that saw Aamer Jamal bat at No.7 in the first innings, and, after Masood's injury, at No.6 in the second. With Saud Shakeel added to the squad, No.8 is a more natural number for Jamal. That, however, will reduce a bowler to make room for a batter, arguably weakening the one facet that worked well in the first Test. With a one-dimensional pace attack in the first Test, Pakistan also retain the option of handing express quick bowler Ubaid Shah a Test debut. Ali Usman had a virtually anonymous debut, and with Sajid Khan waiting in the wings, a straight swap would appear probable.

Pakistan: 1 Azan Awais, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Abdullah Shafique, 4 Babar Azam (capt), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Mohammad Ali/Khurram Shahzad/Ubaid Shah, 11 Mohammad Abbas

Pitch and conditions

While it is the middle of the wet season, the second Test coincides with an unusually dry spell forecast, so interruptions should be few, if any. The Test takes place at the Queen's Park Oval, the conventional Test venue in Trinidad, where spin should play more of a factor than it did at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have a chance to win their first Test series Pakistan since 2000.

• Of Pakistan's eight Test wins in West Indies, their two heaviest triumphs came at Queen's Park Oval, the venue of the second Test. They were, however, some time ago, as Pakistan's first two wins in the Caribbean. They beat the hosts in 1958 by an innings and one run, and then in 1977 by 266 runs.

• If West Indies avoid defeat, they will have won consecutive Test series. They last time they won two Test series with neither victory coming against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh was nearly three decades ago, when they beat India and Sri Lanka back to back in 1997