West Indies, for the third day in succession, finished as the better team in Sharjah as skipper Jason Holder (3/10) led their charge for a first win on the tour by running through the Pakistan top-order. It was Kraigg Brathwaite with an unbeaten knock of 142 who set the tone by adding valuable runs to take the visitors to 337 in reply to Pakistan's first innings score of 281. Pakistan were in trouble at 87/4 at the close of play, with their hopes now riding on the well-set Azhar Ali, not out on 45 at the end of the day's play

Brathwaite, en route to his ton, became only the fifth West Indian to carry his bat through an innings. Despite Holder departing early in the first session, Devendra Bishoo helped the opener frustrate the Pakistan bowlers.

Wahab Riaz (5/88) and Mohammad Amir (3/71) picked up from where they left off on day two, and posed serious questions to the batsmen. Riaz broke the Brathwaite-Bishoo partnership, which accounted for 60 runs and picked up two more wickets to get to his second five-wicket haul in Tests.

Holder, with his harmless medium-pace caused plenty of discomfort for the batsmen. Sami Aslam's wicket was a well-worked dismissal for the Windies, tempting the left-hander into playing the hook shot; he holed out to Alzarri Joseph at fine-leg. Asad Shafiq was surprised by the bounce Holder generated and fended meekly to Darren Bravo at second slip. Younis Khan needlessly chased after a delivery that drifted down the leg side, and keeper Shane Dowrich took a fine catch, diving to his left.

Misbah-ul-Haq fell to spinner Roston Chase to leave his side in tatters at 48/4. Azhar Ali was watchful and barely showed any attacking intent other than hammering a six off Chase. Even Sarfraz Ahmed curbed his intuitively aggressive approach before bad light brought a premature end to proceedings in the final session.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 281 (Sami Aslam 74, Misbah ul Haq 53; Devendra Bishoo 4/77, Shannon Gabriel 3/67) & 87/4 (Azhar Ali 45 not out; Jason Holder 3/10) lead West Indies 331 (Kraigg Brathwaite 142 not out, Roston Chase 50; Wahab Riaz 5/88, Mohammad Amir 3/71) by 37 runs