August 25, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 26

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

KARACHI, Aug 24: Yasir Hameed inscribed his name into the record books forever by becoming the second player to launch his Test career with a century in each innings, as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets here at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Yasir followed his stunning 170 in the first innings of the opening Test of the three-match series with a superb 105 in the second to emulate West Indian debutant Lawrence Rowe who scored 214 and 100 not out versus New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72.

The 25-year-old right-hander, in the process, also joined compatriots Hanif Mohammad, Javed Miandad and Wajahatullah Wasti in the twin-century club which now has 45 members and 53 instances. Several members have achieved the coveted milestone more than once with Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar the only one to do so thrice in the 1970s.

Bangladesh, to their great credit, at least gave a glimpse of their pre-match promise to be more competitive in this series by extending the game into the last day, a feat they had only managed twice before. The latest result extends Bangladesh’s number of losses to 21 in 22 Tests, including a world record sequence of 16 going into next week’s second Test at Peshawar.

Pakistan were also glad to see Inzamam-ul-Haq among the runs after his five-ball duck in the first innings. He helped himself to an unbeaten 35 and had the pleasure of scoring the winning run on the last ball before lunch.

Inzamam, under intense pressure after being dumped following a horrible run of low scores in the recent World Cup, silenced his critics with some splendid strokes during his 61-ball innings, striking spinner Sanwar Hossain for three successive boundaries.

Yousuf Youhana was the other not out batsman with 15.

Resuming at 112 for one, the overnight pair of Mohammad Hafeez (36) and Yasir Hameed (68) carried their stand to 134 before Mohammad Rafique broke the partnership.

Hafeez, also in his maiden Test, reached exactly 50 with a fine drive through to the mid-off boundary. But Rafique, the slow left-armer, had his revenge in the next over, bowling the opener through the gate. Hafeez spent three hours and 38 minutes at the crease and his 151-ball knock included six boundaries.

The Hafeez-Yasir stand was a record for the second-wicket against Bangladesh, surpassing the previous best of 87 by Taufiq Umar and Younis Khan at Chittagong last year.

Inzamam joined Yasir after being warmly applauded to the middle by a small but noisy crowd.

It was an uncommon sight of a pair of batsmen together in contrasting thoughts. One vastly experienced in his 86th Test, and the other just playing his second innings in Test cricket but both anxious for different reasons.

Inzamam, on a pair at the start of his innings, may not have experienced such a nerve-wracking moment before in his long and illustrious career given the state of mind he was in and playing his game in five months.

Yasir, on the other hand, was on the verge of making history for the second time in a match he would never forget as long as he lives. On Thursday, he had the singular distinction of surpassing many greats of Pakistan cricket in breaking the 39-year-old national record of the highest score made by a Pakistani on debut, bettering Khalid Ibadulla’s 166 on the same ground against Australia.

In the end, both heaved a sigh of relief. Yasir turned Rafique through square-leg for two which took him from 99 to 101. He immediately went down on his knees to kiss the turf and offered his gratitude to the Almighty.

Inzamam, who by then had avoided the dreaded pair, warmly hugged his young partner patted him on the head as if to say “we are all very proud of you, son.”

After hitting one more boundary, his 15th, Yasir fell to an armer from the persevering Rafique. Yasir’s 105 were scored off 151 deliveries in a stay of 229 minutes.

It was a Test match that featured several extraordinary deeds. Habibul Bashar’s 71 and 108 and young Rajin Saleh’s courageous maiden Test in which he came out with flying colours against Shoaib Akhtar. Shabbir Ahmed was the pick of bowlers on either side and deserved each of his eight wickets on an excellent debut.

But as in every play there’s one hero who dwarfs everyone else. Yasir Hameed’s contribution in the game was unambiguous since he made almost half — 48.85 per cent — of the total runs Pakistan scored. Yasir’s domination of the Bangladesh’s bowling can be gauged from the fact that his combined share was 64.70 per cent while he was at the crease in both innings.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 288 (Habibul Bashar 71).

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 346 (Yasir Hameed 170, Rashid Latif 54 not out).

BANGLADESH (2nd Innings) 274 (Habibul Bashar 108, Rajin Saleh 60; Shabbir Ahmed 5-48).

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 112-1):

Mohammad Hafeez b Rafique 50

Taufiq Umar c Rajin b Baisya 4

Yasir Hameed b Rafique 105

Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 35

Yousuf Youhana not out 15

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-1) 8

TOTAL (for three wkts, 70 overs) 217

FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-144, 3-170.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 18-4-62-0 (1w); Tapash Baisya 11-1-34-1; Khaled Mahmud 6-3-8-0; Mohammad Rafique 26-6-61-2; Alok Kapali 2-0-10-0; Rajin Saleh 2-0-12-0; Sanwar Hossain 5-1-23-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by seven wickets.

UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and T.H. Wijewardena (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Yasir Hameed.

SECOND TEST: Peshawar, Aug 27-31.

THIRD TEST: Multan, Sept 3-7.