Pakistan pile on runs against West Indies in day-night Test

Pakistan piled on the runs on the second day of the first day-night Test against West Indies on Friday as opener Azhar Ali approached his double hundred in Dubai.

Ali was unbeaten on 194 at the break and with him debutant Babar Azam was 23 not out as the West Indian bowlers once again were left to chase the pink ball on a flat Dubai stadium pitch.

Ali was given a lifeline when Jermaine Blackwood dropped a regulation catch off spinner Roston Chase in the slips when the Pakistani opener was batting on 190.

Ali, also dropped on 38 by Leon Johnson off paceman Miguel Cummins on Thursday, was just six runs short of his double hundred after batting a marathon 487 minutes, hitting 17 boundaries and a six.

The hapless West Indian bowlers found no life in the pitch and struggled against a formidable Pakistan batting line-up.

Resuming at 279-1 Pakistan, who reached 391-2 at tea, lost one wicket in the two-hour session when Asad Shafiq gave a return catch to leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo after scoring an attractive 67 for his ninth half-century in Tests.

Ali continued from where he left after resuming at 146, reaching his 150 with a single and then hitting a six and a boundary off Chase to take Pakistan past 350.

Shafiq reached his 15th half-century with a well-timed boundary off Bishoo before losing out on a big score as he mistimed a straight drive.

Azam, brought into the side after his three hundreds in as many matches in the 3-0 rout of the West Indies in the preceding one-day series, also looked solid, hitting two boundaries.

Australia and New Zealand played the first day-night Test in Adelaide last year, the first-ever in Test cricket's 140-year-old history.