Pakistan need to overcome a serious dose of travel sickness if they are to kickstart their two-Test tour of the Caribbean with a win over West Indies in Tarouba in Trinidad.
Pakistan have lost each of their last seven away Tests, including both games in Bangladesh in May, which has prompted one or two dramatic selection decisions for this tour.
The Windies, in contrast, head into battle with spirits high after a 1-0 series success over Sri Lanka in a double header in Antigua.
West Indies v Pakistan First Test Tips Summary
Best Bet - West Indies to Win @ 6/4
Alternative Bet - Pakistan Under 26.5 Opening Partnership @ 10/11
Bet Builder - Kemar Roach 4+ Wickets, Batter Match Runs - A Awais (vs Imam-ul-Haq), AA Jangoo To Score 30+ Runs, S Masood To Score 30+ Runs, West Indies Opening Partnership Over 24.5 @ 7/1
West Indies v Pakistan First Test Prediction
Best Bet: West Indies to Win @ 6/4
The Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba will host its first Test match over the coming five days and West Indies can mark the occasion by seeing off Pakistan.
The first Test - the second will be staged in Port-of-Spain from August 2-6 - pairs the two teams at the foot of the WTC table.
But they are heading in different directions. The Windies piled up huge runs and their pacemen looked menacing in last month's 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka in Antigua.
Pakistan, meanwhile, were beaten in Bangladesh in May and have a terrible recent red-ball record, to the extent that they have handed the captaincy back to Babar Azam, after he threw away the armband three years ago.
Alternative Bet: Pakistan Under 26.5 Opening Partnership Total @ 10/11
The new ball in the hands of Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales could be pivotal in this Test and expect the pair to make early inroads into Pakistan's first innings.
Sri Lanka's four opening partnerships in the recently-completed series in the Caribbean were 2, 8, 15 and 2 so take a chance on Pakistan's front two - presumably Azan Awais and Imam-ul-Haq - failing to reach 26.5 runs in tandem.
West Indies v Pakistan First Test Bet Builder Tip
- Kemar Roach 4+ Wickets
- Batter Match Runs - A Awais (vs Imam-ul-Haq)
- AA Jangoo To Score 30+ Runs
- S Masood To Score 30+ Runs
- West Indies Opening Partnership Over 24.5
Pays 7/1
Fresh from racking up his 300th Test wicket, Windies' paceman Kemar Roach can pose a major threat to Pakistan in Trinidad.
The home pace attack will do most of the bowling and on the basis that they can bowl Pakistan out twice, take Roach to grab at least four match wickets as part one of the first Test Bet Builder.
Azan Awais scored an undefeated 100 in Pakistan's warm-up game against a West Indies XI in Port-of-Spain.
Opening partner Imam-ul-Haq had two scratchy efforts of 10 and 14 and Awais can outscore his team-mate over the match.
Amir Jangoo scored a stunning 233 in the first Test win over Sri Lanka while his most recent knock was a tidy 51 against New Zealand in an ODI last week.
Take the Trinidadian to delight his home fans by scoring at least 30 runs in the match.
Shan Masood, now freed of the rigours of captaincy, can do likewise having looked his classy self compiling 70 in Pakistan's one warm-up game.
There's a new look to the Pakistan seam attack with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali axed and Pakistan's openers - probably Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Brandon King - can get going with at least a 24.5 run opening stand.
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Key Match Stats
- West Indies have won only two of their last 13 Test matches and only two of their last 11 at home
- Pakistan have lost each of their last seven away Test matches, 3-0 in Australia, 2-0 in South Africa and as recently as May, 2-0 in Bangladesh
- None of the last 13 meetings between West Indies and Pakistan, a run going back to 2006, has ended in a draw
- In his last nine Test innings, Windies' all-rounder Justin Greaves has scored 516 runs
- Pakistan keeper Mohamed Rizwan has scored 381 runs in his last 10 Test innings with three half centuries
- In his last seven Test matches, Pakistan off spinner Sajid Khan has taken 44 wickets, with four or more in six separate innings
Tactics, Form and Team News
West Indies' red-ball skipper Roston Chase is a doubt with a finger injury though head coach Darren Sammy is confident the all-rounder should be fit.
Opener John Campbell has been ruled out with a hamstring injury while Alzarri Joseph is unavailable. Left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop has been called up for the first time.
West Indies come into the series fresh from last month's 1-0 win in a two-match home series against Sri Lanka.
Predicted West Indies XI: Chanderpaul, King, Hodge, Jangoo, Hope (wkt), Greaves, Chase (cap), Warrican, S Joseph, Seales, Roach.
Babar Azam returns as Pakistan captain, replacing Shan Masood, who will still play. Senior trio Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali and Noman Ali have been dropped while dogged batter Saud Shakeel is injured.
Fast bowler Ubaid Shah and middle-order batsman Awais Zafar are in line for Test debuts.
It has been three years since Pakistan last won a Test match abroad, losing seven straight Tests across three different continents.
Predicted Pakistan XI: Awais, Haq, Masood, Azam (cap), Zafar, Rizwan (wkt), Agha, Jamal, Khan, Ali, Shah.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
