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| 30 October 2004 | Saturday | 15 Ramazan 1425 |
Younis justifies recall with a superb century
KARACHI, Oct 29: A splendid century by Younis Khan, the forgotten man of Pakistan cricket, gave his team an upper hand against Sri Lanka on the second day of the second Test at the National Stadium on Friday.
Younis, playing in his first Test after a 13-month absence, struck 124, his sixth century in 29 matches and third against Sri Lanka as Pakistan closed at 298 for four wickets.
Inzamamul Haq was still at the crease with a solid 79, during which the Pakistan captain became the 24th batsman and the second Pakistani to reach 7,000-run-mark after Javed Miandad (8,832 in 124 Tests).
Pakistan, who surpassed Sri Lanka total of 208 just before tea, now enjoy a lead of 90 runs on the first innings with six wickets still intact. Pakistan might have ended the day in a happier position had they not lost Younis Khan and night watchman Riaz Afridi (9) in quick succession in the closing overs.
Pakistan, who trail 1-0 in the two-match series after their heavy defeat in the opening Test at Faisalabad earlier this week, plan to bat Sri Lanka out of the game when play starts on the third day.
Inzamam looked in good touch on Friday after a slow start. He has so far occupied the crease for well over three hours. He hit eight fours and one massive six, straight over the sight screen, off Sanath Jayasuriya.
Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan skipper, tried seven bowlers to break the significant partnership between Younis and Inzamam. But on the whole, it was a day of toil under the sun for the tourists.
Younis, whose last Test appearance was against Bangladesh at Multan in September 2003, silenced his detractors with a well-measured innings until he was out four overs prior to stumps. Slow left-armer Rangana Herath spun one sharply to have Younis spectacularly taken by Thilan Samaraweera at slip after the ball took the outside edge of the bat.
Younis, who stroked 12 fours and one six - over mid-wicket off Jehan Mubarak - during his 318-minute stay negotiated 215 balls and was involved in two successive century partnerships - 122 with Imran Farhat for the second wicket and 149 with Inzamam for the third wicket - that eventually put Sri Lanka on the back foot.
From the moment he came to the crease in the fourth over of the day, Younis was a picture of confidence after getting off the mark with the first ball he faced. Younis, who turns 27 on Nov 29, became circumspect in the afternoon session after reaching 61 in the extended pre-lunch period, adding 32 to be 93 at tea interval.
He duly reached his third three-figure innings at No 3 position when he pulled Dilhara Fernando behind square-leg for a couple. His century came in four hours and 12 minutes off 164 deliveries with 10 boundaries.
Younis, who had earlier got to his half-century 102 minutes off 65 balls, had seen Imran Farhat departing for 72, trapped leg-before by the unlucky Vaas. The left-handed opener, who made 53 in the second innings of the Faisalabad Test, batted for 144 minutes and hammered 12 fours in his 106-ball knock.
Pakistan, starting their reply in the morning after the Sri Lankan innings ended in the last over of play on Thursday, made a hesitant start when Imran survived a vociferous LBW shout on the very first ball he faced from Chaminda Vaas.
The left-hander then had another close shave when he edged Vaas between Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera to the boundary. Yasir Hameed, who made a fairytale entry into Test career with century in each innings against Bangladesh at the same ground 14 months ago, was never in his element in his third innings as a makeshift opener at this level during his brief 15-minute stint.
Therefore, it hardly came as a surprise when Farveez Maharoof induced Yasir to edge a perfect out swinger to Kumar Sangakkara behind the stumps after scratching around for three singles.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings) 208 (Romesh Kaluwitharana 54; Abdul Razzaq 5-35)
Pakistan (1st innings)
Yasir Hameed c Sangakkara b Maharoof 3
Imran Farhat lbw Vaas 72
Younis Khan c Samaraweera b Herath 124
Inzamamul Haq batting 79
Riaz Afridi b Vaas 9
Extras (lb-5, nb-6) 11
Total (for four wkts in 82.4 overs) 298
To bat: Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved, Danish Kaneria.
Fall of wkts: 1-13 2-135 3-284 4-298
Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 17.4-0-57-2 (1-nb), Farveez Maharoof 17-3-46-1, Dilhara Fernando 13-1-62-0 (4-nb), Rangana Herath 20-1-73-1, Jehan Mubarak 4-0-23-0, Sanath Jayasuriya 5-1-20-0, Thilan Samaraweera 6-0-12-0 (1-nb).
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