Shahrukh Khan
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India v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Bangalore, 1st day
Inzamam and Younis power Pakistan
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran at Bangalore
March 24, 2005
Pakistan 323 for 2 (Inzamam 184*, Younis 127*) v India
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Inzamam-ul-Haq batted superbly in his 100th Test as Pakistan took control at Bangalore © Getty Images
An outstanding unbeaten 184 by Inzamam-ul-Haq, playing his 100th Test, was the highlight of the opening day at Bangalore, as Pakistan powered to 323 for 2. Inzamam was superbly supported by Younis Khan, who was unbeaten on 127. The two batsmen added 316 for the third wicket after India had made early inroads, dismissing both openers with only seven on the board.
Full report to follow.
Tea Pakistan 202 for 2 (Inzamam 119*, Younis 72*) v India
Inzamam-ul-Haq emulated Colin Cowdrey, Alec Stewart, Gordon Greenidge and his former team-mate, Javed Miandad, by scoring a century in his 100th Test as Pakistan took control of the third Test on a placid pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Inzamam's 21st hundred was a majestic effort, one that utterly changed the complexion of the match after India had struck two early blows with the new ball. By tea, Inzamam and Younis Khan, who played his part with a responsible auxiliary effort, had added 195 to set the platform for a big push in the final session.
India surrendered any trace of initiative soon after lunch, with Inzamam playing some crisp cuts and fluent shots off the pads. Untroubled when driving Lakshmipathy Balaji off the front foot, his back-foot play was simply imperious, with strokes piercing the field almost at will. He also ensured that Younis didn't lose the plot, going down the pitch and administering a pat on the back after a loose shot.
With Younis easing towards his 50, Inzamam stepped out and lofted Anil Kumble effortlessly towards the long-on fence, and then moved to 96 with an exquisite cover-drive off Irfan Pathan, the 15th four of his innings. Minutes later, a tuck off the hips to square leg gave him the single he needed to bring up a century that would mean so much to him, and his team.
His openers hadn't done him any favours at the start, but as has happened fairly frequently in the recent past, Inzamam was left to steer his team out of choppy waters. Yasir Hameed, in the side in place of the out-of-depth Taufeeq Umar, had started with a beautifully timed straight drive, but the opening crescendo from the crowd hadn't even died down when Shahid Afridi, who played that blistering innings in Kolkata, nicked Balaji's first delivery. And when Hameed edged one from Pathan, Inzamam strode out in his usual sedate fashion, mere minutes after being presented with a special memento on the field.
Younis Khan carried on his great form and supported Inzamam superbly © Getty Images
Both Balaji and Pathan bowled with terrific discipline and verve on a pitch that hid no demons, but Inzamam was in prime form, getting off the mark with a gorgeous cover-drive and following up with a nonchalant swivel-pull for four. The outfield tended to be slow, but Inzamam's sweetly timed shots sped to the fence, and with Younis also lacing some superb drives and cuts, the total slowly mounted.
Harbhajan and Kumble, the hometown hero, bowled 12 overs between them in the morning without really discomfiting either batsman, and the small smattering of grass on the surface appeared more to be a binding agent to prevent it cracking under an unrelenting sun. By tea time, it was India that were starting to exhibit cracks, with the fielding increasingly ragged in the face of some superb batsmanship. And not even being mistaken for Haidee Tiffen by the electronic scoreboard operators would have detracted from the big man's sense of delight. The job, though, was far from done.
How they were out
Afridi c Dravid b Balaji 0 (4 for 1) A tame edge to first slip.
Hameed c Karthik b Pathan 6 (7 for 2): A faint tickle through to the keeper as the ball slanted away from him.
Teams
Pakistan
1 Yasir Hameed, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Asim Kamal, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Danish Kaneria, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Arshad Khan.
India
1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Saurav Ganguly (capt), 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji
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