Sport | Cricket
Yousuf bolsters Pakistan against Bangladesh
Mohammad Yousuf scored his second successive hundred to power Pakistan to a commanding 322 for 5 in the first one-day International against Bangladesh at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore yesterday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:38 April 8, 2008
Karachi: Mohammad Yousuf scored his second successive hundred to power Pakistan to a commanding 322 for 5 in the first one-day International against Bangladesh at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore yesterday.
Yousuf walked into bat with his team struggling at 70 for 3 after 18 overs.
He responded with a flawless innings of 108 from 103 balls with 11 boundaries, his 15th one-day century. Yousuf had also scored a hundred in his last game against Zimbabwe in January this year.
Yousuf put on 145 from 127 balls for the fourth wicket with skipper, Shoaib Malek (85) - a fourth-wicket record against Bangladesh - providing a strong platform for the final run spree when 102 came off the last 10 overs.
Yousuf reached his century in the 48th over off 99 balls by tickling spinner Abdur Razzak to square for an easy single to the roar of the big crowd.
Bangladesh let the home side slip away to a big total after taking wickets and restricting the run rate in the first half of the innings.
Mashrafe Mortaza and Farhad Reza bowled intelligently with the new ball to dismiss Nasir Jamshed (20), Younis Khan (1) and Salman Butt (33) before they were able to settle down. Yousuf and Malek then repaired the damage.
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