Younus Falls Short Of Record Before Test Is Drawn

Younus Falls Short Of Record Before Test Is Drawn

The two captains Younus Khan (centre) and Mahela Jayawardene (right) finally shook hands on the draw.

©REUTERS/Athar Hussain (PAKISTAN) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Pakistan 765-6 d. (Younus Khan 313, Kamran Akmal 158no) drew with
Sri Lanka 644-7 d. (M Jayawardene 240) & 144-5 (Sangakkara 65)
1st Test, Karachi, day five: stumps
Scorecard |  Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Younus Joins 300 Club
By Graham Wilson

Younus Khan was finally out for 313 before the first Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi took a most unexpected turn before petering out into a draw on a flat track at the National Stadium.

Younus fell well short of Brian Lara's Test record of 400, adding only seven runs to his overnight 306 before he was bowled for 313 and after declaring 121 runs ahead, Pakistan then reduced Sri Lanka to 120 for five to raise the spectre of an unlikely win before they ran out of time.

Younus moved ahead of Bob Cowper (307), Virender Sehwag (309), John Edrich (310 not out) and Bob Simpson (311) in the list of all-time high scorers before Dilhara Fernando bowled him in the ninth over of the day. He had faced 568 balls in all, hitting 27 fours and four sixes in a supreme effort of concentration and stamina.

His effort ensured that Pakistan could not lose the match and with no result seemingly possible, he delayed the declaration to allow Kamran Akmal to reach an unbeaten 158, a career-best score, and Yasir Arafat to reach a maiden Test half-century as he finished unbeaten on 50.

Fernando finished with the least ridiculous figures of two for 124 although a case could be made for Mahela Jayawardene himself, who ended up with one for 41 from 6.5 overs.

It is probably a safe bet to suggest that Kumar Sangakkara will not bowl ten overs in a Test again and when Sri Lanka batted again, he smashed 65 in 66 balls before they slumped to 120 for five with Malinda Warnapura (2), Tharanga Paranavitana (9), Tillakaratne Dilshan (8), and Jayawardene (22) all falling cheaply.

Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria shared four wickets but there was not to be a fairytale end to Paksitan's first Test in 14 months as Thilan Samaraweera (14 not out) and Prasanna Jayawardene (7 not out), the only two Sri Lankans not to have bowled during Pakisan's innings, saw to it that there were no further wickets before the match was drawn.

Mahela Jayawardene and Samaraweera scored double-centuries in the first innings as Sri Lanka declared on 644 for seven. Few would have predicted them conceding a first innings, although it mattered little in the end.

© Cricket World 2009

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