West Indies were struggling to avoid a big defeat against Pakistan after run-machine Mohammad Yousuf broke several records on day four of the third and final Test on Thursday.
Yousuf (32) made his second century of the match and his ninth of 2006 to break Vivian Richard’s 30-year old record for most runs scored in a calendar year.
The visitors were 39-2 with captain Brian Lara on 18 and Ramnaresh Sarwan (11) after they were reduced to 17-2 inside four overs. They have been set an improbable target of 444 to win the Test.
Pakistan declared after tea on 399-6 after resuming on 130-2 in the morning.
Lara, bowled for a second-ball duck in the first innings, survived some anxious moments before unleashing his trademark drives but needs to match the batting feats of Yousuf (124), Mohammad Hafeez (104) and Inzamam ul-Haq (58 not out).
The West Indies were rocked on the second ball of their innings when Chris Gayle played on to Umar Gul and in the fourth over Shahid Nazir brought one back to trap Daren Ganga.
Yousuf set various records, finishing 2006 with 1 788 runs in 11 matches to overtake the 1 710 of Richards in 1976.
His nine hundreds this year, including six in his last five Tests, lifted his batting average to 56 in his 73rd Test and are also the most in a calendar year.
He was finally bowled round his leg by part-time spinner Sarwan after facing 195 balls with 15 fours.
It was his 23rd career Ton and, with 665 runs in all, the best aggregate for a three-match series by a Pakistani, surpassing the 583 by Zaheer Abbas against India in 1978.
He also made 102 on the opening day of the Test.
Yousuf put on 149 for the third wicket with opener, Mohammad Hafeez, who plodded his way to his second Test hundred.
He was the first wicket to fall in the day when he was caught behind by Denesh Ramdin off Jerome Taylor.
Skipper Inzamam scored his first half century in his last six Tests and put on 94 quick runs with Yousuf.
He declared the innings after Shoaib Malik (10) and Abdul Razzaq (10) fell in quick succession after Yousuf’s departure. — Reuters