Younis Khan slams triple century

Younis Khan scored a triple century to help Pakistan post 574 for five at close on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka  in Karachi on Tuesday.

The hosts are now just 70 runs adrift of the visitors' first innings score.

The Pakistan captain, who was unbeaten on 243 at the tea-break, reached the milestone of 300 runs with a reverse sweep of Muthiah Muralitharan .

He finished the day unbeaten on 306. His innings was replete with 27 fours and four sixes.

It was the third instance of a Pakistani batsman scoring a triple century in Test cricket -- after former captains Hanif Mohammad and Inzamam-ul Haq -- and the 23rd in international cricket.

Sri Lanka, who amassed 644 for seven declared in their innings, were frustrated by a pitch getting flatter by the day.

Younis khan, 31 and playing in his 59th Test, also passed the 5,000 Test runs milestone in the last session, becoming the fastest of five Pakistanis to reach the mark by surpassing Javed Miandad's record of 65 matches.

The right-hander's effort matched that of his Sri Lankan counterpart, Mahela Jayawardene , who hit 240 in the tourists' innings.

Younis khan, leading Pakistan in a Test for the fifth time, had earlier on the second day registered his 16th Test hundred, his fourth against Sri Lanka in 11 Tests.

Sri Lanka - Pakistan Test : Lanka 120-2 at lunch

Kumar Sangakkara and Malinda Warnapura hit half-centuries to help Sri Lanka reach 120-2 by lunch on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan here on Saturday.

 

Sangakkara was unbeaten at the break on 51 with skipper Mahela Jayawardene on five not out after Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat on a flat pitch.

Warnapura earlier steadied the innings with a brisk 48-ball 59 to help his team recover from the early loss of debutant opener Tharanga Paranavitana, who was dismissed for a first-ball duck.

Pakistan's frontline paceman Umar Gul struck with the fourth ball of the innings when he forced left-hander Paranavitana to edge into the slip where Misbah-ul-Haq took a smart catch.

Warnapura and Sangakkara added 90 for the second wicket before first-change Yasir Arafat provided the breakthrough. Warnapura, who hit nine boundaries, edged Arafat to Haq who held a low catch in the slip.

 

The 32,000-seater National Stadium stadium wore a deserted look as policemen outnumbered the spectators in the first session of the Test -- the first in 14 months that Pakistan has participated in.

Pakistan's last Test was against India at Bangalore in December 2007 and the team has not played a home Test since facing South Africa in October that year with security concerns keeping foreign teams away from Pakistan in 2008.

In March last year, Australia refused to tour the troubled country, citing a high security risk for their players.

India cancelled its team's tour to Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attacks on Mumbai, which New Dehli blamed on militants based in Pakistan.

Pakistan left out rookie paceman Mohammad Talha from the squad of 12, giving Test caps to 22-year-old opener Khurram Manzoor and 24-year-old fast bowler Sohail Khan.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka

M. Warnapura                            c Haq b Arafat 59

T. Paranavitana                            c Haq b Gul 0

K. Sangakkara                            not out 51

M. Jayawardene                            not out 5

Extras nb4, w1 5

Total     for two wkts 120

Fall of wkts :: 1-3, 2-93

Bowling :: Gul 6-0-33-0 (1w), Sohail 6-1-36-0, Arafat 8-0-24-1 (1nb), Malik 5-0-22-0 (2nb), Kaneria 1-0-5-0 (1nb)

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