Tony Becca

There is nothing as sweet as victory. There is, however, something almost as sweet, and that is a well-earned draw - a draw that was almost a victory, a draw at the end of which the fans can put their hands together and applaud a truly outstanding effort.

The West Indies did not win the second Test against Pakistan, which ended in Multan, yesterday and, as a result, with Pakistan winning the first Test and only one remaining, they cannot win the series.

The West Indies, however, can draw the series and, after starting as outsiders, the reason for that is because they drew the second Test.

After losing the first Test in Lahore by nine wickets with a day to spare, the West Indies were definitely underdogs going into the second Test, and with Pakistan, after winning the toss and electing to bat, cruising along at 83 without loss and at 212 for two, they appeared heading for another defeat.

In a glorious fight back, however, in a performance, which forced captain Brian Lara to say minutes after the match ended that "maybe a little corner was turned", they hit back brilliantly and dominated the rest of the match in a manner that up until midway on the last day, certainly up until lunch when Pakistan, with only five wickets in hand, led by only 74 runs, they were the ones on the hunt with Pakistan running for cover.

In the end, with Mohammed Yousuf, 191, and Abdul Razzaq, 80, standing firm in a match-saving sixth-wicket partnership of 152, the Test match fizzed to a draw, probably because of a few dropped catches by the visitors.

In the end, and even though they took a couple brilliant ones, the West Indies must lament flooring so many catches, missing one stumping, and thus failing to pull off what would have been a commendable victory.

Lovely performance

That aside, however, it was a lovely performance by the Windies, and thanks to the bowlers headed by Jerome Taylor, and to the batsmen headed by Lara.

Taylor, who took five wickets in the first innings, was outstanding in both innings and particularly so on the second morning when the West Indies picked up six Pakistani wickets for 94 runs to begin their dash for victory; Corey Collymore, who must be the unluckiest bowler alive, was a master in both innings despite collecting only two wickets; and after a disappointing performance in the first innings, Daren Powell impressed in the second, while pocketing one wicket and conceding only 47 runs from 20 overs.

And although the pitch was a batting paradise, the West Indies batsmen were just as good, if not better.

Stroking the ball confidently and fluently, Christopher Gayle, 93, Daren Ganga, 82, and Dwayne Bravo, 89, made West Indians proud - even though they failed to convert those scores into centuries.

That star of the show, however, was Lara - and it had nothing to do with the fact that he went on to score not only a century, but also a double century with 50 coming off 48 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes, 100 coming off 77 deliveries with 12 fours and five sixes, 150 coming off 145 deliveries with 17 fours and six sixes, and the 200 off 241 deliveries with 21 fours and seven sixes in an innings which lasted for 262 deliveries and included 22 fours and seven sixes.

It was a superb innings by the grand master of batting - an innings in which he batted with the air of a man who could have done anything he wanted to, against any one of the bowlers he wanted to, and at any time he wanted to.

Skill

It was an innings during which, after Danish Kaneria had been bowling brilliantly, and after the Pakistani had cut down both Gayle and Ganga, the left-handed genius, as he has done to Australia's Shane Warne and to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, demonstrated his skill against spin bowling by blasting the master wrist spinner to all parts of the ground - the ball racing along the grass to the boundary or dropping, some times many, many metres away, beyond the boundary.

The West Indies go now to Karachi for the third and final Test match, and although it would be great if they win and level the series, if apart from their catching, they play as well as they did in Multan, it may be another sign that at last they are turning the corner.