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With birthday boy Sanath Jayasuriya racing to the sixth fastest ton in the history of ODI cricket on Monday, we look at his and the five other occasions blitzkrieg batsmen have smashed sub 60-delivery tons…

Responsible: Shahid Afridi
Date: 04/10/1996
Site Of The Carnage: Nairobi
Deliveries: 37
Unlucky Opposition: Sri Lanka

Barely able to sprout facial hair and very short on international experience, the then 16-year-old rookie strode into a batting order that included moustached greats like Saleem Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and Rameez Raja.

What is it that makes the Pakistani cricketer tick? In this sport, it is among the most compelling questions, unanswered till now and probably never to be fully resolved. If you didn’t know any better you’d think, from various results over the years, some strife, considerable friction within the side, a run of bad results and a boggling glut of off-field controversies spurs them on.

Pakistan had no business winning today and that too chasing 300-plus; perhaps this is precisely why they won. They have been poor in this tournament thus far, their bowling without sting, their batting uncertain. The future of at least one from captain and coach has been on the line.

Pakistan 309 for 2 (Younis 123*, Misbah 70*, Jamshed 53 retd) beat India 308 for 7 (Dhoni 76, Rohit 58, Sehwag 49, Anjum 3-51) by eight wickets

Pakistan – courtesy Younis Khan’s scintillating hundred – showed plenty of character to make easy work of a target of 309 against India and push their case for a berth in the final on Sunday. Pakistan’s openers set the platform with attacking cricket against India’s battle-weary seam attack, before masterful middle-order batting from Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq helped them gallop home with 27 balls to spare. The victory not only saved the home side from an early elimination, but also brought the lukewarm tournament to life as the hunt for Sri Lanka’s opposition in the final extended to another day, at least.

In a rare and astonishing development, Dr. Nasim Ashraf the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been able to garner support from the premier of Pakistan. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on Wednesday backed the chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in his effort to host the ICC Champions Trophy in a befitting manner saying that the government will provide all possible support to the biennial spectacle scheduled for this September.

Pakistan’s most controversial bowler, the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar and the Pakistan’s most failed batsman Shahid Khan Afridi have taken a sigh of relief as Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to keep both players in the team, and they are here to stay till something drastic happens with the team.

This decision has been taken due to the continuous bad performance of the national team in the successive matches, and due to the weaknesses which got exposed in the Asia Cup in each and every match of the running tournament. As PCB has failed to bring in fresh and promising talent in the recent years, it has been forces to stick with the olden and expendable talent, which is almost spent.