Pakistan captain Younis Khan on Tuesday set a plethora of records on his way to an unbeaten 306 on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in Karachi.
In reply to Sri Lanka's mammoth first innings total of 644 for seven declared, Younis, who led the side in place of Shoaib Malik, produced a marathon display of endurance and focus to take his team to 574 for five at stumps on the penultimate day to see the match heading towards a dull draw.
By virtue of this feat, Younis became the third Pakistani after Hanif Mohammad (337) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (329), and the 20th batsman in the history of the game to reach a triple hundred.
Having moved onto 178 at lunch and 243 at tea after resuming the day on his individual score of 149, Younis reverse swept spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan down to the third man to take three runs and complete his triple hundred.
He spent 731 minutes at the crease to score the unbeaten 306 which came off 545 balls and included 27 fours and four sixes.
The 306 is also Younis' highest Test score after 267 against India at Bangalore in 2005. It was also the first time that any batsman has scored a triple century against Sri Lanka in Tests.
Younis also became the first Pakistani captain to score a triple hundred, providing the 23rd instance of a triple ton in Test matches.
His 306 is also the highest score in an innings by a Pakistani captain, surpassing Wasim Akram's 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in 1996.
Younis played with such focus that his innings overshadowed the match saving partnerships of 130 for the fourth wicket and 174 for the fifth wicket that he shared with Misbah-ul-Haq (42) and Faisal Iqbal (57) during the day.
Misbah was trapped leg before by Dilhara Fernando just before tea and Faisal fell in same manner to Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene after tea.
Younis' innings, coupled with Jayawardene's 240 in the Sri Lankan first essay, was the first instance of two rival captains scoring double hundreds in the same match.
Younis also entered the elite 5000-run club in Test cricket in his 59th match, the fastest by a Pakistani batsman after Javed Miandad who reached the feat in 65 Tests. He also became the fifth Pakistani batsman to have completed 5000 Test runs.
Younis took full advantage of the batting track as he frustrated the Lankan bowlers with his combination of shots and stout defence.
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