Thilan - Mahela double tons
Set record after record:
Skipper Mahela Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera rewrote history
books with an epic fourth wicket World record partnership on the second
day of the first Test match against Pakistan continued at the National
Stadium in Karachi yesterday.
The pair shattered a record that stood for 52 years as Sri Lanka
piled up a massive 644 for 7 in their first innings. Their magnificent
stand of 437 runs easily bettered the previous best of 411 for the
fourth wicket held by England’s Peter May and Colin Cowdrey against the
West Indies at Birmingham way back in 1957.
This means Jayawardena is now part of two World records having also
figured in the highest ever partnership where he put on 624 runs for the
third wicket along with Kumar Sangakkara against South Africa at the SSC
grounds in Maitland Place in July 2006.
Sri Lanka then reduced Pakistan to 44 for 1 in reply with Muttiah
Muralitharan making the breakthrough just two overs before stumps. Left
hander Salman Butt was snapped up by Mahela Jayawardena after the
batsman had survived a chance from the very first over of Ajantha Mendis.
Jayawardena who will step down from the captaincy after this series
had a memorable outing as he reached his first double hundred outside
Sri Lanka and his first against Pakistan. This was overall his fifth
double century and it came in 354 deliveries studded with 27
boundaries.Â
Jayawardena and Samaraweera also established a new record for the
fourth wicket in Test matches against Pakistan while erasing the
previous best of 240 runs held by former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and
Asanka Gurusinha at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in 1986.
In addition the pair set up a new record at the National Stadium in
Karachi while overcoming the previous best ever stand of 298 runs for
any wicket held by the Pakistan combination of Aamir Sohail and Ijaz
Ahmed against the West Indies in December 1997.
Sri Lanka’s total of 644 for 7 is also the highest ever at this venue
where they erased the previous best of 599 for 7 scored by Pakistan
against India in January, 2006. This total is Sri Lanka’s highest
against Pakistan overall where they bettered the previous best of 528
made at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in March 2002.
Jayawardena made his intentions quite clear from the very first
delivery as he was more interested in occupying the crease and to
frustrate the bowling side. As a result Sri Lanka managed to collect
only 99 runs from the opening session but the most important thing was
that they did not lose a wicket.
In fact only 18 runs were scored during the first 10 overs of the day
as the Pakistanis put up an improved performance with the ball. Umar Gul,
who had earlier bowled on a shorter length, hit the good lengths quite
regularly and kept it very tight.
Yasir Arafat also continued his good work, again looking the most
economical of the bowlers.
However Jayawardena and Samaraweera were well prepared and showed a
great amount of maturity in building up their record shattering
partnership. Even then the temptation was always there for them to go
after the bowling as the wicket was still looking pretty good for many
runs. But they remained calm for most of the first session and their
first boundary came in the 14th over.
Samaraweera opened out after lunch to score his maiden double hundred
from 287 deliveries inclusive of 26 boundaries. He thus bettered his
previous best performance of 142 scored against England at the SSC
ground in Maitland Place in 2003.
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS (overnight 406-3)
M. Warnapura c Haq b Arafat 59
T. Paranavitana c Haq b Gul 0
K. Sangakkara c Haq b Kaneria 70
M. Jayawardene c Akmal b Malik 240
T. Samaraweera b Kaneria 231
T. Dilshan c Akmal b Malik 0
P. Jayawardene b Kaneria 18
C. Vaas not out 12
Extras: (lb4, nb9, w1) 14
Total: (for seven wkts decl) 644
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Paranavitana), 2-93 (Warnapura), 3-177 (Sangakkara), 4-614 (Jayawardene),
5-614 (Samaraweera), 6-614 (Dilshan), 7-644 (P. Jayawardene).
Bowling: Gul 24-2-92-1 (1w), Sohail 21-3-131-0, Arafat 26-2-90-1 (2nb), Malik 36-3-140-2 (6nb),
Kaneria 46.2-5-170-3 (1nb), Younus 1-0-6-0, Butt 1-0-11-0.
Overs: 155.2
PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS
Khurram Manzoor not out 18
Salman Butt c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 23
Younus Khan not out 0
Extras: (nb3) 3
Total: (for one wkt) 44
Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Butt)
Bowling: Vaas 8-2-11-0 (2nb), Fernando 5-0-22-0 (1nb), Mendis 6-2-10-0, Muralitharan 3-2-1-1.
Overs: 22
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Steve Davis (AUS)
TV umpire: Zamir Haider (PAK)
ICC match referee: Chris Broad (ENG). |
