(Reuters) – Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq equalled Viv Richards’s record for the fastest test century while his team stood six wickets away from a memorable 2-0 series win against Australia yesterday.
Misbah and Azhar Ali hit their second century in the Abu Dhabi run-feast before declaring their second innings on 293 for three on the penultimate day of the second and final test.
Chasing an improbable 603-run victory target, the Australian top order surrendered, not for the first time in the series, to the Pakistani spinners to slump to 143 for four at stumps.
Among the top four, only David Warner (58) offered some resistance before falling to off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez.
Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (3-65) was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers and took the rest of the Australian wickets to fall on Sunday.
Steven Smith (38), one of the better players of spin in his team, and Mitchell Marsh (26) will return on Monday to continue their battle against a Pakistan team on the verge of their first test series win against Australia in 20 years.
The day belonged to Misbah, who hit a blistering 101 not out, belying his reputation as a ponderous batsman as he added 141 quick runs in 17 overs with Azhar (100) for the unbroken fourth wicket.
Dropped by Peter Siddle on four, Misbah took just 21 balls to race to his half-century, bettering South African Jacques Kallis’s record of a 24-ball fifty against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2005.
Needing eight runs from two balls to reach his hundred, he hit paceman Mitchell Starc for consecutive boundaries to match West Indies great Richards’s 1986 record of a 56-ball century against England at St John’s, Antigua.
The right-hander hit five sixes — including three in one Smith over — and 11 boundaries in his stunning 57-ball knock at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Younus Khan (46) was the only Pakistan batsman dismissed in the morning session.
Younus, who has hit scores of 106, 103 not out and 213 in his last three innings, was trapped leg before by part-time spinner Smith.
If any consolation for the Australians, this was the first time the former Pakistan captain failed to reach three figures in the two-test series, which he finished with 468 runs to his name.
Compounding Australia’s problems, pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson left the field with a hip pain while Warner kept wickets in the absence of Brad Haddin who hurt his shoulder on Saturday.
Maxwell also donned the keeping gloves towards the end of the Pakistan innings to relieve Warner who was to return soon to open the innings for the second time.
Scoreboard
Pakistan 1st innings 570 for 6 decl (Y. Khan 213, A. Ali 109, Misbah-ul-Haq 101)
Australia 1st innings 261 (M. Marsh 87)
Pakistan 2nd innings (Overnight: 61-2)
A. Shehzad b Johnson 14
M. Hafeez c Starc b Johnson 3
Az. Ali not out 100
Y. Khan lbw b Smith 46
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 101
Extras (b-23 lb-4 nb-1 w-1) 29
Total (for 3 wickets declared, 60.4 overs) 293
Fall of wickets: 1-14 A. Shehzad,2-21 M. Hafeez,3-152 Y. Khan
Did not bat: A. Shafiq, S. Ahmed, Z. Babar, Y. Shah, R. Ali, I. Khan
Bowling M. Johnson 7 – 1 – 45 – 2 N. Lyon 18 – 3 – 48 – 0 M. Starc 11.4 – 2 – 56 – 0(w-1) P. Siddle 14 – 4 – 48 – 0(nb-1) S. Smith 6 – 0 – 54 – 1 M. Marsh 4 – 1 – 15 – 0
Australia 2nd innings (Target: 603 runs)
C. Rogers c Shafiq b Babar 2
D. Warner c Shah b Hafeez 58
G. Maxwell lbw b Babar 4
M. Clarke b Babar 5
S. Smith not out 38
M. Marsh not out 26
Extras (b-4 nb-1 pen-5) 10
Total (for 4 wickets, 48 overs) 143
Fall of wickets: 1-19 C. Rogers,2-31 G. Maxwell,3-43 M. Clarke,4-101 D. Warner
To bat: B. Haddin, M. Starc, M. Johnson, P. Siddle, N. Lyon Bowling R. Ali 5 – 4 – 1 – 0 I. Khan 5 – 1 – 13 – 0 M. Hafeez 12 – 1 – 33 – 1 Z. Babar 17 – 1 – 65 – 3 Y. Shah 8 – 0 – 21 – 0(nb-1) Az. Ali 1 – 0 – 1 – 0 Referees Umpire: Richard Kettleborough Umpire: Nigel Llong TV umpire: Marais Erasmus Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.
Fastest centuries in test cricket
(Reuters) – Following is a list of the fastest centuries in test cricket after Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq reached the mark in 56 balls against Australia in Abu Dhabi yesterday:
Batsman Balls Country Opposition Year
Viv Richards 56 West Indies England 1986
Misbah-ul-Haq 56 Pakistan Australia 2014
Adam Gilchrist 57 Australia England 2006
Jack Gregory 67 Australia South Africa 1921
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 69 West Indies Australia 2003
David Warner 69 Australia India 2012
Chris Gayle 70 West Indies Australia 2009
Roy Fredericks 71 West Indies Australia 1975
Majid Khan 74 Pakistan New Zealand 1976
Kapil Dev 74 India Sri Lanka 1986
Mohammad Azharuddin 74 India South Africa 1996
