Shahrukh Khan
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akistan v West Indies, 1st Test, Lahore, 3rd day
Yousuf leads Pakistan dominance
The Bulletin by S Rajesh
November 13, 2006
West Indies 206 and 74 for 3 trail Pakistan 485 (Yousuf 192, Akmal 78, Malik 69, Hafeez 57) by 205 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pakistan how they were out
West Indies how they were out
Mohammad Yousuf was out in the 190s for the second time in as many series © AFP
Mohammad Yousuf's monumental 192 put Pakistan in a position of immense strength at the end of the third day of the Lahore Test. Yousuf's knock, coupled with half-centuries by Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik, powered Pakistan to 485 with first-innings lead of 279. They further strengthened that position by reducing West Indies to 74 for 3 in 17 overs.
Pakistan's innings had vital contributions from the middle and lower-order batsmen, but the effort that made the difference was Yousuf's. After Pakistan lost two early wickets in the morning - including Malik's for 69 - Yousuf found an ally in Akmal, and the pair completely shut West Indies out of the match with a 148-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Like on the second day, Yousuf was unhurried in his approach. He caressed drives through the off side, picked off singles and twos on the leg, and batted with a languid elegance. He struggled first up against an inspired - and desperately luckless - Corey Collymore, survived a sharp chance to second slip, but once Collymore finished his nine-over spell, the pressure eased up and Yousuf did pretty much what he liked.
He danced down the pitch and deposited Dave Mohammed over long-off for six; and when he wanted to show his touch and artistry, he waited on the back foot and, with his wrists, tapped it to the third-man boundary. A double-hundred was there for the taking when Chris Gayle deceived him with a magnificently flighted delivery that drew him forward and then left him stranded.
If Yousuf was the glue that held Pakistan together, then the feisty Akmal was the one who provided the impetus with his stroke-filled 78. When he came in to bat, West Indies had reduced Pakistan from 265 for 4 to 285 for 6. Akmal being the last of the competent batsmen, another wicket then could have put West Indies in a position to restrict the deficit.
However, as has happened so often in the match, the moment West Indies seemed to be fighting back, Pakistan shut them out again. Intent on putting the bowlers on the back foot, Akmal attacked from the outset, driving fluently through the off side, and cutting and pulling with aplomb when the bowlers pitched it short. Fidel Edwards, easily the most lacklustre of the three fast bowlers, was pulled twice for fours in his first over of the day, before being driven through and over the off side when he pitched it up. It finally required Gayle's part-time offspin to end the partnership, but there was still more resistance from Pakistan's last-wicket pair. Danish Kaneria, too, swatted a couple of boundaries en route to his second-highest score in Tests.
A deficit of 279 was a huge disadvantage to start with in the second innings and it got even worse when both Daren Ganga and Gayle fell in the five overs before tea. Imran Farhat, not one of Pakistan's best fielders, ended a dismal Test for Ganga with a moment of sheer inspiration, picking up the ball and throwing down the stumps from square leg, while Gayle succumbed to a superb delivery which seamed away.
Brian Lara began with two crisply struck fours off his first two balls, and with Ramnaresh Sarwan was putting the innings back on track when umpire Asoka de Silva, ruled Sarwan lbw when the ball was clearly going over the stumps.
Edwards, the nightwatchman hung on with Lara till the light deteriorated and forced the umpires to call off play about 15 minutes before the scheduled close. But with two more days to go, the relief for West Indies is surely only a temporary one
Noor?
