Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Yusuf Pathan's Amazing Innings

Despite his limited success in the International Arena and limited technique to counter bounce and swing , Yusuf  Pathan has played some really amazing innings in his career. His style of play may give an illusion that he is best suited for T20 Cricket but he has been part of some world records in Domestic Cricket. Innings, either long or short, have had his trademark big hits over the fence.


Here I have compiled some of his amazing innings in his career. Innings with big impact on the game and over the audience.




210* Vs South Zone (Duleep Trophy)
Highest Score ever Chased In First Class Cricket

It was a moment to cherish! Not very often does one see a world record in a domestic, first-class game.

Yusuf Pathan played one of the most audacious knocks in the history of the game (210 not out, 190 balls, 19 x 4, 10 x 6), to successfully chase a target of 536 against South Zone and set a new world record in the Duleep Trophy final at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.



After the match , Yusuf himself rated this as 'Best Inning Of His Career'.





One of the only 5 Hundreds scored by a No. 7 Batsman in an ODI chase.

Yusuf, who came out in the 14th over when India were tottering at 74 for 6, hit 8 stunning sixes and as many fours and threatened to single handedly pull off a sensational victory with a brutal 70 ball 105.
In the process, Yusuf Pathan hit his second ODI century in 5th ODI of South Africa v India series at Centurion on January 23, 2011.
He completed his incredible hundred with Big 6. Its pity that an inning of such excellence couldn't achieve victory for Team India.


3rd Fastest Hundred in T20 Cricket

Yusuf Pathan unleashed an assault, as delicate as it was brutal, hitting 9 fours and 8 sixes in a 37-ball hundred. From needing 143 off 57, Yusuf brought equation down to 40 off 17 for Rajasthan Royals Vs Mumbai Indians.
He was finally out in only 
possible fashion that Mumbai Indians could have managed that day. His run out at the crucial stage did cost Rajasthan Royals the match. Had he won the match on his own, there would have been lesser debate to the Shane Warne's remark that this was the 'Best Inning He Had Ever Seen'.


It was the second-fastest Twenty20 hundred, and fastest in IPL till date.






123* Vs New Zealand
Highest score by a No. 6 Batsman in an ODI chase of  300 or more.

It looked grim for India when they were tottering at 188 for 5 in the 34th over in their chase of 316, after the fall of Rohit Sharma, but Yusuf Pathan pulled off a heist.

Yusuf Pathan hit his maiden One Day International (ODI) century of 79 Balls vs New Zealand, with 7 Fours and 7 Sixes at the Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on 7th Dec 2010.

This is how Cricinfo describes this inning.

"Years from now, when people think of Yusuf Pathan's maiden one-day century, they are unlikely to remember much more than the sheer brutality of it all. Yet, there was so much more to the innings than the clinical straight-hitting, which admittedly was in a league of its own. A batsman's response when his weaknesses are targeted can say a lot about his state of mind. While Yusuf dismantled New Zealand when they served him freebies in his hitting areas, the clarity he showed when tested with the short ball was even more telling."




148 Vs  New Zealand A

Barely 12 overs into the game, India A had lost half their side Vs New Zealand A. 
Yusuf Pathan, walking in at No.7, repaired a broken innings with an assault that included 9 sixes and propelled the Indians to 305 for 8. 
Indians were 66 for 5. It was in this disarray that Yusuf began his innings and scored 148 off 127 at MA Chidambaram Stadium , Chennai.


Highest Score Chased In Super Over

Yusuf Pathan plundered 18 runs from the first four balls of the Super Over, bowled by Ajantha Mendis to give the defending champions Rajasthan Royals their first win of IPL2.
Chasing a target of 16 runs in the Super Over, Pathan scored 6,2,6,4 of the first 4 balls to deliver in yet another Man-of-the-Match performance.



Kolkata Knight Riders never recovered from this assault and went on to finish the tournament with 11 losses.






108 Off  42 Balls Vs  Maharashtra
3rd Fastest Hundred in List A Cricket

Yusuf Pathan entered the record books as he slammed the third-fastest hundred in List A history, off 40 balls, to help Baroda stun Maharashtra at the Sardar Patel Stadium C Ground.

Chasing 231, Pathan walked in at the 23rd over with the score at 99 for 3. By the 37th over, he had finished the game after scoring 108 off 42 balls.




Yusuf Pathan slammed four consecutive sixes for Kolkata Knight Riders vs Somerset in the Champions League T20, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on September 25, 2011.

In a dull match, the crowd was brought to life by Yusuf Pathan, who decided to make Somerset pay for bringing on their fourth left-arm spinner, Arul Suppiah. Coming on strike for the second delivery, Yusuf gave the crowd its voice as he launched it over long-on. Each of the next three deliveries disappeared into a sea of delirium between long-on and deep midwicket.



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