Tony Becca

THE WEST Indies and Pakistan face off in the first of their three-match Test series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore tomorrow, and the promise is that it will be the beginning of a run feast with the series, despite the inconsistency of the batting on both sides, probably ending in a 0-0 stalemate.

Although the West Indies and Pakistan are known for their inexplicable batting collapses, with the West Indies boasting batsmen of the quality of Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, plus others like Daren Ganga, Dwayne Bravo and Runako Morton; with Pakistan parading the likes of Inzamam ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Moham-mad Yousuf, plus others like Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal and Kamar Akmal, and with the pitches in Pakistan usually flat and nice for batting, it should be runs and plenty of runs throughout the contest - and especially so against the bowling on both sides.

Akhtar, Asif out

With pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif suspended and out of action, Pakistan's attack will be missing their two best pace bowlers and a lot will depend not only on pacers Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul and possibly one of Shahid Nazir or the left-handed newcomer Samiulla Khan, but also on the successful and dangerous leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

For the West Indies, no one is on suspension. Although, in terms of a consistent line and length, they bowled fairly well during the recent ICC Cham-pions Trophy, the question, however, is this: Do they possess the skill necessary to dismiss batsmen who are determined to bat for as long as possible in a Test match, and especially so on good pitches?

Tough task for spinners

This will be testing time for them -- and especially so for off-spinner Omari Banks and left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammed.

Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards are fast and, depending on the pace of the pitches, their pace, backed up by a good line and a good length, could make life difficult for Inzamam and company - and so, too, could the consistent Corey Collymore.

For the so often erratic Daren Powell, however, for Banks and for Mohammed, it won't be easy, and particularly so for Banks and Mohammed - two spin bowlers coming from a land where there is no confidence in their breed and bowling against some quality batsmen in their own backyard.

After 41 Test matches between the two teams, the West Indies, with 14 victories, lead Pakistan by one. In the past four series, however, it has been two for Pakistan, and one for the West Indies with one drawn, and the two victories for the West Indies have been a 3-0 drubbing in Pakistan in 1997-98 and a 2-0 defeat in Sharjah in 2001-02.

That defeat in Pakistan, two innings defeat and one 10-wicket defeat in the whitewash, represented the worst performance by the West Indies since England defeated them 3-0 in 1928 in their first series by winning all three matches by an innings, and although such a heavy defeat of Pakistan is very unlikely, victory for the West Indies this time would go a far way to erase that memory.

Test for bowlers

Can the West Indies defeat Pakistan in Pakistan? Looking at both sides they can - and especially so with Taylor and Edwards in their line-up. Such is the batting and the bowling on both sides, however, that barring one of those batting collapses that are common to both sides, it seems that the contest, which will be a test for the bowlers on both sides but more so for those in the West Indies line-up, will end up in a draw - possibly a 0-0 draw.

The West Indies team for this first Test could well read: Gayle and Ganga, Sarwan, Lara, Chanderpaul, Bravo, Ramdin, Mohammed, Taylor, Edwards and Collymore.