Yousuf sets Test record

Karachi, November 27:

Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf hit a record eighth Test century in a calendar year before the West Indies fought back hard on the first day of the third and final Test. Yousuf smashed 15 fours in his knock of 102 runs, but the West Indies claimed four wickets in the last session to restrict Pakistan to 257-7.

The brilliant form of Yousuf this year saw him score two centuries against India in the home series before registering another three against England in summer. He also scored centuries in the first two Tests against the West Indies. Yousuf drove Daren Powel to mid on for three runs to complete his 22nd Test century and became the first batsman in Test history to score eight centuries in a year.

Viv Richards (West Indies) and Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka) jointly held the previous record with seven centuries in 1976 and 1997 respectively from 11 Tests each. Yousuf also closed in on Richards’ 30-year-old record of most Test runs in a calendar year. Richards made 1,710 runs in 11 Test matches and Yousuf needs another 47 to break the mark.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN — 1st innings

M Hafeez b C’more 18

I Farhat c Ramdin b Bravo 47

Y Khan run out 20

M Yousuf lbw b C’more 102

Inzamam c C’paul b Ganga 18

S Malik lbw b Taylor 18

A Razzaq c Ramdin b Bravo 7

K Akmal not out 18

S Nazir not out 0

Extras: 9 (1b, 6lb, 2nb)

Total: 257/7

FoW: 1-26, 2-72, 3-112, 4-178, 5-222, 6-239, 7-248

West Indies bowling: Taylor 17-3-55-1, Collymore 17-6-41-2, Gayle 16-3-27-0, Powell 20-4-74-0, Bravo 14-6-33-2, Ganga 4-0-20-1