KARACHI, Jan 29: A courageous century from Kamran Akmal engineered a remarkable recovery by Pakistan after Indian paceman Irfan Pathan grabbed the most sensational of Test hat tricks on Sunday.
Kamran stroked an audacious 113 to lift his team from an abject 39 for six to a respectable 245 in the first innings of the third Test.
Pakistan then hit back by slicing through Indian top order.
Within 12.4 overs, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Vangipurappu Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar were leaving the match intriguingly poised.
When bad light curtailed the opening day of action while 11 overs still remaining, the left-handers Saurav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh had taken the Indians to 74 for four.
Pakistan suffered a huge setback when Inzamamul Haq opted not to risk his chronic back injury and handed the reins of leadership to vice-captain Younis Khan.
But it was Dravid who won the toss of the series after having called incorrectly in the first two Tests.
Pathan, the 21-year-old from Baroda, exploited the conditions and achieved Test’s maiden first-over hat trick before the crowd had a chance to settle down.
Bowling from the University Road End, Pathan managed to force the left-handed Salman Butt, playing in a Karachi Test for the first time, poke his bat outside the off-stump and found Dravid taking a good low catch.
Stand-in Pakistan captain Younis was trapped lbw in the next ball followed by Mohammad Yousuf who was clean bowled becoming Pathan’s hat trick victim.
Stunned and bewildered after those blows, Pakistan batsmen demonstrated they were unaccustomed to batting in conditions in favour of seam bowlers.
Faisal Iqbal was entrusted the task of replacing Inzamam. Unfortunately, he was outclassed by a superb Zaheer Khan delivery that had him leg-before-wicket for five.
Shahid Afridi then played down the wrong line without moving his feet and was bowled leg-stump by Zaheer for 10.
Imran Farhat hung around long enough to hit five boundaries in scoring 22 before impetuosity brought about his downfall.
The left-hander flayed aimlessly at a wide delivery from R.P. Singh but only succeeded in edging it to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kamran then made his presence felt while Abdul Razzaq dropped the anchor admirably.
Slowly but surely, the pair neutralized the Indian bowling until lunch arrived with Pakistan now on 101 for six.
Kamran carried on in the same vein after the break as the partnership gained momentum with each passing over.
Unperturbed by the situation he was in, Kamran drove, cut and pulled with gusto.
On the way, Kamran went past 1,000 runs in 21 Tests with his 45th run. He hardly ever looked in trouble while reaching 50 off 59 balls with 11 boundaries.
But Razzaq perished after putting on 115 priceless runs in 160 deliveries with his young partner. The all-rounder’s 79-ball 45, which was spiced with seven fours, couldn’t have come at a better time for the home team.
Of late Shoaib Akhtar was exemplary in ensuring Kamran complete a thoroughly deserved century.
Kamran got to the three-figure mark when he rocked back and swatted R.P. Singh to the cover fence. It was his fourth Test century, and third against India in eight Tests.
And when Kamran was out to the Dhoni-Pathan combination, a standing ovation welcomed him all the way to the Pakistan changing room.
In all, he occupied the crease for 203 minutes, negotiated 148 balls and punctuated a truly memorable knock with 18 fours.
Realizing the end was nigh, Shoaib, who had helped Kamran add 82 off 116 balls in 75 minutes, holed out in the deep to Yuvraj Singh.
Pathan finished with five for 61, his seventh such in 21 Tests, while Zaheer and R.P. Singh shared the remaining wickets.
Laxman replaced Sehwag when India came out to bat. The official word was that Sehwag had stayed off the field long enough which prevented him from opening the innings.
The change in batting order was irrelevant as first Dravid and Laxman fell during an excellent first spell from Mohammad Asif.
Dravid was caught by Kamran off Asif and Shoaib removed dangerous Sehwag who was not allowed to hit his side out of trouble.
Tendulkar never settled down and Shoaib welcomed the little maestro with a 93mph missile and struck him on the helmet.
Luck was not Tendulkar’s side and after surviving a torrid 48-minute period, he played onto Razzaq.
Monday’s first session is crucial and if the wickets continue to tumble like they did on the first day, a result is definitely on the cards.
Scoreboard
Pakistan (1st innings):
Salman Butt c Dravid b Pathan
0
Imran Farhat c Dhoni b Singh
22
Younis Khan lbw b Pathan
0
Mohammad Yousuf b Pathan
0
Faisal Iqbal lbw b Zaheer
5
Shahid Afridi b Zaheer
10
Abdul Razzaq lbw b Singh
45
Kamran Akmal c Dhoni b
Pathan
113
Shoaib Akhtar c Yuvraj
b Pathan
45
Mohammad Asif c
Laxman b Singh
0
Danish Kaneria not
out
0
Extras:
(lb2, nb1, w2)
5
Total
(in 60.1 overs)
245
Fall of
wkts: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-13, 5-37, 6-39,
7-154, 8-236, 9-245
KARACHI, Jan 29: A courageous century from Kamran Akmal engineered a remarkable recovery by Pakistan after Indian paceman Irfan Pathan grabbed the most sensational of Test hat tricks on Sunday.
Kamran carried on in the same vein after the break as the partnership gained momentum with each passing over.
In all, he occupied the crease for 203 minutes, negotiated 148 balls and punctuated a truly memorable knock with 18 fours.
