Younis ton drives Pakistan
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
KARACHI, Feb 23 (Cricinfo): Pakistan's new captain Younis Khan hit a fine century and combined well with his predecessor Shoaib Malik to thwart a stiff challenge from the Sri Lankan spinners. On a pitch that got increasingly slower, Sri Lanka fought hard but Younis stood firm to lead Pakistan toward avoiding the follow-on.
Younis' innings said a lot about his character and batsmanship. You could dismiss his knock with a casual yet fitting word like 'typical' but it wouldn't do full justice. His captaincy had been castigated for his first-day field settings when Sri Lanka ran away to a mammoth total. Today, Younis replied with his bat.
He defended a lot but never poked around. He slog-swept and reverse-swept a lot but never looked desperate or too cheeky, as he often does in one-day cricket. He had occasional problems with M&M but never got bogged down. The loose balls were punished and Younis created run-scoring opportunities regularly with planned, calculated shots.
As ever, he was ready for a challenge. When Muttiah Muralitharan plugged the backward short-leg region to prevent him from flicking, Younis unfurled the reverse-sweep. When Ajantha Mendis flummoxed him at times with his variations, Younis never let the bowler gain the ascendancy. In fact, it was against Mendis that he produced the shot of his stay - clearing his front leg, Younis allowed himself a free swing of the bat and the ball rocketed past the surprised bowler. When Dilhara Fernando pinned him with reverse swing when he was in the nineties, Younis remained patient in getting to the landmark. When Chaminda Vaas bent the new ball back in, Younis looked for singles to square leg. In a nutshell, it was a typical innings. We couldn't escape that word, could we?
Younis' effort came after Sri Lanka had tightened the noose in the first session with some disciplined and crafty bowling. Muralitharan twirled his offbreaks and doosras at different speeds, creating angles by going around the stumps and suffocating the batsmen. Mendis cut it both ways and slipped in quite a few off-breaks and googlies and nearly accounted for Younis with a close lbw shout. He also should have got Malik on 15 but Prasanna Jayawardene, who was otherwise really good, could not hold on to a tough chance behind the stumps. Younis, however, looked quite confident even in the morning. There were three elegant cover-drives off Vaas but the shot of the morning was a whiplash square-drive against Fernando.
Pakistan 296 for 3 (Younis 149*, Malik 56) trail Sri Lanka 644 for 7 dec by 348 runs.
Younis' innings said a lot about his character and batsmanship. You could dismiss his knock with a casual yet fitting word like 'typical' but it wouldn't do full justice. His captaincy had been castigated for his first-day field settings when Sri Lanka ran away to a mammoth total. Today, Younis replied with his bat.
He defended a lot but never poked around. He slog-swept and reverse-swept a lot but never looked desperate or too cheeky, as he often does in one-day cricket. He had occasional problems with M&M but never got bogged down. The loose balls were punished and Younis created run-scoring opportunities regularly with planned, calculated shots.
As ever, he was ready for a challenge. When Muttiah Muralitharan plugged the backward short-leg region to prevent him from flicking, Younis unfurled the reverse-sweep. When Ajantha Mendis flummoxed him at times with his variations, Younis never let the bowler gain the ascendancy. In fact, it was against Mendis that he produced the shot of his stay - clearing his front leg, Younis allowed himself a free swing of the bat and the ball rocketed past the surprised bowler. When Dilhara Fernando pinned him with reverse swing when he was in the nineties, Younis remained patient in getting to the landmark. When Chaminda Vaas bent the new ball back in, Younis looked for singles to square leg. In a nutshell, it was a typical innings. We couldn't escape that word, could we?
Younis' effort came after Sri Lanka had tightened the noose in the first session with some disciplined and crafty bowling. Muralitharan twirled his offbreaks and doosras at different speeds, creating angles by going around the stumps and suffocating the batsmen. Mendis cut it both ways and slipped in quite a few off-breaks and googlies and nearly accounted for Younis with a close lbw shout. He also should have got Malik on 15 but Prasanna Jayawardene, who was otherwise really good, could not hold on to a tough chance behind the stumps. Younis, however, looked quite confident even in the morning. There were three elegant cover-drives off Vaas but the shot of the morning was a whiplash square-drive against Fernando.
Pakistan 296 for 3 (Younis 149*, Malik 56) trail Sri Lanka 644 for 7 dec by 348 runs.