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Younis and Collymore keep their teams in the scrap
by AFP


Ground:Sabina Park, Kingston
Player:Asim Kamal, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, CD Collymore
Event:Pakistan in West Indies 2004/05

DateLine: 3rd June 2005

 

Younis Khan hit his ninth Test hundred and Corey Collymore bowled his heart out, as neither Pakistan nor West Indies conceded an inch in their second and final Test.

 

Younis fashioned a resolute 106 to lead a Pakistan recovery, but Collymore gained bounce and movement from the hard, true Sabina Park pitch to snare four wickets that left Pakistan on 336 for six in their first innings when stumps were drawn on the opening day on Friday.

 

Fortune favoured Younis when slip fielder Devon Smith dropped him on 47 off Chris Gayle, but he quickly regained his composure, and proceeded to make the most of his reprieve.

 

Younis drove Reon King off the backfoot through widish mid-off for a single to reach his milestone, but he was one of three wickets that Collymore carried away in a purposeful spell of seam bowling that provided him with figures of 22-4-55-4 at the end of the day.

 

Collymore led the West Indies fightback, after Younis added 87 for the third wicket with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who scored 50, and 117 for the fourth wicket with Asim Kamal, who made 51.

 

Collymore had Younis caught at gully driving off the backfoot, after the Pakistan vice captain smote 14 boundaries from 190 balls in a shade over 4-1/4 hours.

 

Four overs later, Collymore bowled Kamal off the inside edge when the batsman essayed a backfoot drive. The left-hander hit seven fours from 122 balls a little over 2-1/2 hours.

 

Collymore was not finished though. After beating Shahid Afridi several times outside the off-stump with perfectly pitched balls that moved away, the West Indies fast bowler celebrated when the batsman finally nibbled at another tempting delivery, and was caught behind for 33.

 

West Indies could have tightened their grip more, when Kamran Akmal was caught behind on 16 off Tino Best, who was crestfallen when umpire Darrell Hair bellowed for a no-ball that looked questionable on television replays.

 

Akmal, who is not out on 19, kept his composure and batted through close to 45 minutes to add 38, unbroken, for the seventh wicket with Abdul Razzaq, who is 24 not out on, to slow down the West Indies.

 

Younis in concert with Inzamam, the two most senior Pakistani batsmen in the line-up, had spearheaded the recovery operation prior to the visitors taking lunch on 102 for two.

 

Pakistan, who chose to bat on a hard, true Sabina Park pitch under sunny skies, slid to 43 for two before Younis and Inzamam brought some stability to the innings.

 

Opening batsman Yasir Hameed was caught at first slip off Powell for 13, and fellow opener Shoaib Malik was caught behind off Collymore in bizarre circumstances - the batsman choosing to walk, despite a restrained appeal from the West Indies' fielders.

 

By the time Pakistan had progressed to 202 for three, Younis was within sight of his milestone.

 

He and Kamal had consolidated Pakistan's position, after the visitors had lost Inzamam in the first hour following the lunch interval.

 

Inzamam hit seven fours from 60 balls in just under 1-1/2 hours. He was eventually caught at slip off Chris Gayle, edging an arm-ball when playing defensively forward.

 

West Indies, who were beaten 2-0 at home by South Africa in their most recent Test series and lost eight consecutive One-day Internationals to the Proteas and Pakistan, lead the two-Test series 1-0, after winning the first Test at Bridgetown by 276 runs.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)

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