Records galore for Inzi & Younis in 316-run stand

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq became the fifth batsman in history to score a century in his 100th Test appearance when he hit an unbeaten 184 on the opening day of the third and final Test against India.
Inzamam and Younis Khan (127 not out) added 316 for the unbroken third wicket as Pakistan, looking for a series-levelling win, reached 323-2 by stumps at the Chinnaswamy stadium here on Thursday.

It was the 35-year-old Inzamam's 21st Test century and was studded with 25 boundaries.

Centurions in 100th Test:

Colin Cowdrey (ENG) 104 v Australia, Birmingham, 1968
Gordon Greenidge (WIS) 149 v England, Antigua, 1989-1990
Javed Miandad (PAK) 145 v India, Lahore, 1989-1990
Alec Stewart (ENG) 105 v West Indies, Manchester, 2000
Inzamam-ul Haq (PAK) 100 (batting) v India, Bangalore, 2004-2005

Inzamam-ul-Haq made a century in his 100th Test match as Pakistan ended the first day of the final Test against India in a strong position on 323-2.

Lakshmipathy Balaji and Irfan Pathan dismissed both openers to leave the tourists reeling on 7-2 in Bangalore.

But captain Inzamam took advantage of a good pitch to stroke a chanceless 184, while Younis Khan made a patient 127.

Their partnership is a record for any wicket by a touring team in India and has set up what should be a big total.

It was just what the visitors needed as they looked to tie the series after their defeat in Calcutta

They replaced out-of-form opener Taufeeq Umar and seamer Mohammad Khalil with Yasir Hameed and off-spinner Arshad Khan, while India were unchanged.

Inzamam, who joined Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Salim Malik in reaching the 100-Test milestone for Pakistan, won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat on a benign-looking wicket.

But he was soon back out in the middle

Balaji struck with the first ball of the second over, getting movement off the seam to induce Shahid Afridi into edging to Rahul Dravid at slip.

Yasir Hameed then played away from his body to edge an angling ball from Pathan to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.

That was as good as it got for India as their bowlers, in the absence of any real assistance from the pitch, repeatedly bowled too short at Inzamam and Younis.

The captain was quickly into his stride, driving and pulling with aplomb to bring up up his 50 off 85 balls.

By contrast, Younis relied mainly on ones and twos and completed his half-century off 115 deliveries after the interval.

He proved the ideal foil to his skipper, who saw the ball well and continued to pick up boundaries with ease.

A superb cover drive off Pathan took Inzamam to 96 and he tucked the same bowler for a single to square-leg to bring up his 21st Test century.

There were also few difficulties after the tea interval - the only trouble Inzamam appeared to have was with fatigue.

He flicked a loose Anil Kumble delivery off his pads and pulled Harbhajan Singh through mid-wicket as the 200 partnership came up.

But then there was a delay while he received treatment from the physio for what looked like cramp.

Younis took that as a sign to step up his scoring rate and he smashed Harbhajan over long-on for the first six of the innings.

The vice-captain tried to repeat the feat next ball but the doosra deceived him and he was lucky to see a miscue loft harmlessly towards long-off.

That was a rare scare on a day of records and celebrations, and an edge off Kumble brought Younis his eighth Test ton off 211 balls.

Sourav Ganguly shuffled his bowlers around and took the new ball with six overs left in the day in a bid to force a breakthrough.

But the two batsmen stood firm and took their partnership past the 300 mark - with Inzamam recording the highest individual score at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The day ended with another authoritative shot from Inzamam off Balaji on the off-side and it could be another busy day for the statisticians on Friday

Yeah I saw them play

Kya khele hain, mashallah, kal bhi agar kafi deer rahe na, to acha score ho jayegha inshallah

Insha Allah

dont worry, he will be eliminated tomorrow, i say on the very first ball :P

well payal u jinxed our captain, but younis handel them well.

anyway let see what will be the result.

ha ha, that was inevitable zaheer, your allo ki sabzi gets tired too quickly :P

i wont call '184' is too early for a batsman to become tired :P perhaps indian 11 were toiling for a day and half only coz of inzi and younis

sehwag saves the indian 11, rest of em were just bunch of petty burgers, laxman is the only batsman left, rest it's just less-to-nothing.

i'm sure Pakistan will bat again with 100 runs lead.. 570 was too much for the indian team