West Indies' Brian Lara celebrates his century against Pakistan on the third day of the second Test match at the Multan Stadium yesterday. - Reuters
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP):
MASTER LEFT-HANDED batsman Brian Lara rewrote the record books yesterday and smashed a century before lunch as the West Indies built a strong lead against Pakistan in the second Test.
Lara's unbeaten 196 off 230 balls led the West Indies to a commanding 509 for five at stumps on the third day and overshadowed teammate Dwayne Bravo's brilliant 89.
The West Indies now lead by 152 runs after fast bowler Jerome Taylor's five-wicket haul had restricted Pakistan to 357.
Lara hammered 21 boundaries and seven big sixes in his superb strokeplay over six hours.
Lara joined three Australians - Victor Trumper (1902), C.G. Macartney (1926) and Sir Don Bradman (1930) - along with Pakistan's Majid Khan (1976) as the only other batsmen who scored centuries before lunch in Test history.
The pair of Lara and Bravo put on an invaluable 200 runs which bettered the West Indies previous best fifth wicket stand of 185 runs against Pakistan between Collie Smith and Everton Weekes at Bridgetown in 1957-58.
Pakistan had their share of chances in an otherwise frustrating day in the field.
Imran Farhat dropped Lara on 131 before wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal missed a legside catch when the West Indies captain was on 181. In the same over of legspinner Danish Kaneria (3-159), Akmal also let off a leg-side stumping chance that could have terminated Bravo's innings on 79.
Kaneria finally broke the stand late in the day when Bravo edged a low catch to Younis Khan after hitting 12 boundaries in his 177-ball knock.
Earlier, in a boundary-filled 2 1/2 hour first session, Lara raised his 34th Test century off 77 balls before lunch with a dozen delightful fours and five huge sixes when he pulled Shahid Nazir for two runs in the penultimate over before the break.
Lara's fourth successive Test century against Pakistan also brought him just one century behind the all-time leading centurion Sachin Tendulkar (35) of India.
Opening batsmen Chris Gayle (93) and Daren Ganga (82) both missed their hundreds and were trapped lbw by Kaneria after the West Indies resumed at the overnight score of 151.
Kaneria soon came under a barrage of runs by Lara as the master batsman unleashed fluent boundaries - especially on the offside of the wicket with his trademark cover drives and cut shots. Lara scored 60 runs off the 29 deliveries that he faced from Kaneria in the first session.
Lara completed his half century off 48 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes - both off Kaneria. Later he took 26 runs in Kaneria's 30th over of the innings that included three successive sixes and two fours.
The flurry of Lara boundaries forced Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to take the second new ball that brought immediate success.
Umar Gul had Runako Morton (five) lbw and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, playing in his 100th Test, mistimed a pull shot off Nazir and gave a simple catch at mid-on.
Gayle added six more to his overnight 87 before he was trapped lbw by Kaneria in his second over of the day off a delivery that spun sharply into the left-hander. Gayle put on 162 runs for the first wicket with Ganga in four hours and 10 minutes and hit 11 fours and a six in his 182-ball knock.
Ganga hammered 12 boundaries in his 251-ball knock before he too fell leg before wicket to a sharp Kaneria delivery before Bravo and Lara featured in their double century partnership.
SCOREBOARD
Pakistan first innings, 357
West Indies first innings
(Resumed at 151-0)
C. Gayle lbw Kaneria 93
D. Ganga lbw Kaneria 82
B. Lara not out 196
R. Morton lbw Gul 5
S. Chanderpaul c Razzaq b Nazir 14
D. Bravo c Khan b Kaneria 89
D. Ramdin not out 4
Extras: (9b, 10lb, 7nb) 26
TOTAL: (for five wkts - 147 overs) 509
Batting time: 608 minutes.
Fall: 1-162, 2-220, 3-281, 4-302, 5-502.
Bowling: Umar Gul 33-12-80-1 (2nb), Shahid Nazir 22-2-81-1 (4nb), Danish Kaneria 41-6-159-3 (1nb), Abdul Razzaq 17-4-64-0, Mohammad Hafeez 23-2-68-0, Shoaib Malik 11-1-38-0.
