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| November 28, 2006 | Tuesday | Ziqa'ad 6, 1427 |
West Indies make inroads despite Yousuf century: Inzamam again falls cheaply
KARACHI, Nov 27: Despite a record eighth century from Pakistan’s run-machine Mohammad Yousuf, West Indies ran away with the first day’s honours in the third and final Test at the National Stadium here on Monday.
Yousuf made a sublime 102, his 22nd hundred in 73 Tests and sixth against West Indies in eight Tests, to overtake West Indian great Sir Vivian Richards (in 1976) and Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva (1997) as the scorer of most centuries in a calendar year as Pakistan closed at 257 for seven in their first innings.
On a sluggish pitch, which according to Yousuf and West Indian fast bowler Daren Powell is likely to deteriorate as the match progresses because of the uneven bounce, Pakistan struggled for runs whenever Yousuf (158 balls, 15 fours) was not on strike.
Yousuf, who started the Karachi Test 149 runs behind the incomparable Richards’ all-time calendar year feat of 1710, was sixth out when he misjudged the length as he attempted to pull Corey Collymore for his 16th boundary.
The 32-year-old right-hander, who has now accumulated 1664 runs in 11 Tests this year, has just one more innings — the second of this game — to score the remaining 47 runs and outstrip the world benchmark set by Richards 30 years ago.
As long as Yousuf was in the middle Pakistan felt comfortably placed even when skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq’s long drought with the bat continued on Monday.
The real worth of Yousuf’s almost unblemished four-hour innings can be gauged by one simple fact: he scored 61% of the runs while he was the master of his own destiny, having come to the crease once Younis Khan was run out by Imran Farhat’s imprudent call for a suicidal single.
As he has done all throughout the series, Yousuf — 541 runs in the current rubber lifting his aggregate to 1090 against West Indies — presented a contrasting picture to what was going on at the other end.
The only time he appeared in trouble was on 97 when a waist-high beamer from Jerome Taylor struck him on the upper arm.
A push for three off Powell through the mid-wicket region brought up Yousuf’s best hundred of the series and enabled him to equal Jacques Kallis’s record of five centuries in consecutive Tests which the South African made in the 2003-04 season. Only Australia’s Sir Donald Bradman had bettered this unique feat when he plundered six on the trot between 1936-37 and 1938.
Pakistan expected both Imran and Mohammad Hafeez to provide a solid launching pad for a decent total after Inzamam won the toss. Hafeez, however, went early in the 10th over, bowled through the gate by Collymore for 18.
Younis (20 off 41 balls, three fours) looked jittery in the company of Imran as he survived being run out before opening his account. A streaky boundary through the slips shortly afterwards was enough to sense what was to come next.
So it was no surprise when Powell, on his follow through, scored a direct hit with Younis nowhere in sight when Imran played towards short-mid-wicket and called his partner.
Imran (47 off 92 balls, eight fours) flirted with danger — playing and missing as he usually does — but batted long to last the two-hour morning session which ended with Pakistan 88 for two in 28 overs.
The interval caused Imran’s downfall as he added only six more before he flailed his bat hard at widish Dwayne Bravo delivery outside the off-stump. A sharp catch by wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin was the end verdict for the left-hander who came good with 74 and 76 in Multan last week.
The stage was then set for Inzamam to get himself into some kind of form after negligible contributions in the past eight innings. The skipper’s subdued approach was understandable in the prevailing circumstances as he and Yousuf carried the score to 174 for three at tea.
However, the big man’s luck ran out when Daren Ganga, of all people, bagged a prized maiden Test wicket after being brought on by Brian Lara from the University Road End.
Inzamam trudged back, head down, after charging down the track to hit the part-time off-spinner over mid-off, but succeeded in finding Shivnarine Chanderpaul perfectly positioned to poach the ball.
Inzamam’s role in the 66-run partnership with Yousuf was minor. His 18 was made up of 11 scoring shots (three threes, seven singles and a brace) off 64 balls in 104 minutes.
Shoaib Malik (18 off 36 balls, one four) added 44 as Yousuf neared the three-figure landmark before Taylor got one to jag back and found the all-rounder in front of the stumps.
Abdul Razzaq, who saw Yousuf to the coveted century, was a strokeless wonder throughout his excruciating stay of 78 minutes during which he scored seven off 50 balls before Bravo got his man.
Now Kamran Akmal remains Pakistan’s one last hope for a 300-plus total with only the tail to hang around.
West Indies, however, are in the box seat because the second new ball, already overdue by eight overs, will surely be taken first thing Tuesday morning.
Before play got under way on day one, recalled fast bowler Mohammad Sami was not considered as for the third successive Test Pakistan kept faith with the same playing XI.
West Indies, meanwhile, reinstated batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, the vice-captain who was a shock omission in Multan, in place of the unorthodox slow left-armer Dave Mohammed.
The exclusion of a specialist spinner initially seemed an error in judgment on part of West Indies’ think tank, but in hindsight playing an extra batsman — especially with uncertainty hovering over pitch’s future behaviour — may yet help Lara’s desire to win and share the series.
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN (1st Innings):
Mohammad Hafeez b Collymore 18
Imran Farhat c Ramdin b Bravo 47
Younis Khan run out 20
Mohammad Yousuf lbw b Collymore 102
Inzamam-ul-Haq c Chanderpaul b Ganga 18
Shoaib Malik lbw b Taylor 18
Abdul Razzaq c Ramdin b Bravo 7
Kamran Akmal not out 18
Shahid Nazir not out 0
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-6, NB-2) 9
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 88 overs) 257
FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-72, 3-112, 4-178,
5-222, 6-239, 7-248.
TO BAT: Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria.
BOWLING (to-date): Taylor 17-3-55-1;
Collymore 17-6-41-2 (1nb); Gayle 16-3-27-0; Powell 20-4-74-0 (1nb); Bravo 14-6-33-2; Ganga 4-0-20-1.
WEST INDIES: C.H. Gayle, D. Ganga, R.R. Sarwan, B.C. Lara, S. Chanderpaul, R.S. Morton, D.J. Bravo, D. Ramdin, J.E. Taylor, D.B. Powell, C.D. Collymore.
UMPIRES: D.J. Harper (Australia) and M.R. Benson (England).
TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin (Pakistan).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama
(Sri Lanka).
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