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The brilliant Mohammad Yousaf, who joined the galaxy of stars such as Sir Vivian Richards, Aravinda de Silva and Ricky Pointing to score seven hundreds in a calendar year, steered Pakistan to draw the second Test match against the West Indies here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Pakistan now stand 1-0 up in the three-match Test series. The last Test will be played at Karachi from November 27.

Yousuf’s authoritative innings ended when the master batsman was on 191 and by then Pakistan had averted the defeat which looked a possibility when play resumed on the fifth morning. Pakistan cleared the deficit of 234, the first innings lead, and ended the day at 461 for seven when the umpires took off the bails.

Yousuf continued with his prolific form — he made 192 in the first Test at Lahore — and executed his strokes with absolute authority. He truly played the role of a sheet-anchor after captain Inzamam-ul-Haq fell cheaply and cut, pulled, and found gaps to keep the scoreboard moving.

Yousuf also passed through some anxious moments and survived two close lbw appeals and a dropped catch on 108 by Runako Morton off Daren Powell in second slip but overall he dominated the proceedings on the final day.

From his individual score of 88, he completed his 21st Test century smashing the leather effortlessly across the rope four times. His placement into the gaps was superb. When he was nine short of 200, he was brilliantly caught by Shivnarine Chanderpaul off Dave Mohammed. Yousuf hit 22 fours in his marathon innings.

Abdul Razzaq was another batsman who demonstrated his brilliance with 80 runs scored with the help of eight fours and a six. With Yousuf he added 152 runs for the sixth wicket.

Earlier, Brian Lara operated with two spinners as he wanted to finish 14 overs in a short time and then attack the batsmen with the second new ball. The spinners failed to manage a breakthrough as Lara also failed to set an attacking field. Most of the time he spread his fielders just close to the rope.

The West Indies fielders dropped catches and let the match slip away from their hands. A steady partnership of 119 between Yousuf and Imran Farhat enabled Pakistan to clear the deficit when play resumed on the final day. Both continued with their fourth day’s fightback amidst some tricky moments.

Imran was unfortunate when he ran himself out in a mix-up with Yousuf and Chanderpaul’s smart throw did the rest. Imran made 76 to follow his first innings 74.

Inzamam continued with his poor form. The master batsman has failed to score a fifty in his last seven Test matches. He once again failed to lead from the front. He struggled throughout his 38-ball innings — survived a run out and a close lbw appeal. He never looked at ease.

Jerome Taylor ended Inzamam’s agony when the batsman played across a slightly moving delivery and was adjudged lbw plumb in front of the wicket. Shoaib Malik was also unfortunate to be out as he played on a Powell delivery coming into his stumps.

Scoreboard

Paakistan won toss

Pakistan 1st inns 357 (Imran Farhat 74, Younis Khan 56, Mohammad Yousuf 56, Shoaib Malik 42; J E Taylor 5-91)

West Indies 1st inns 591 (C H Gayle 93, D Ganga 82, B C Lara 216, D J Bravo 89; Danish Kaneria 5-181)

Pakistan 2nd inns (overnight 213-2)

Mohammad Hafeez b Taylor 18

Imran Farhat run out (C’paul/Ramdin) 76

Younis Khan c Ramdin b Mohammed 56

Mohammad Yousuf c C’paul b Mohammed 191

*Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Taylor 10

Shoaib Malik b Powell 4

Abdul Razzaq c C’paul b Mohammed 80

†Kamran Akmal not out 2

Extras (b 8, lb 10, w 3, nb 3) 24

Total (7 wkts, 147.4 overs) 461

Did not bat: Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Danish Kaneria

Fall: 1-24, 2-124, 3-243, 4-284, 5-306, 6-458, 7-461

Bowling: Taylor 25-4-75-2; Collymore 28-9-66-0 (1nb); Gayle 29-5-85-0 (1w); Powell 20-6-47-1 (1nb, 1w); Bravo 13-3-40-0 (1w); Mohammed 27.4-4-101-3; Chanderpaul 2-0-9-0; Morton 3-0-20-0 (1nb)

Result: Match drawn

Series: Pakistan leads the 3-match series

1-0

Man of the Match: Mohammad Yousuf

Umpires: M R Benson (England) and D J Harper (Australia). TV umpire: Zameer Haider. Match referee: R S Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

First Test: November 11-14 Lahore, Pakistan won by 9 wickets

Third and final Test: November 27-December 1, Karachi
Source:The News