Younis sets record aplenty with triple ton

Pakistan captain Younis Khan on Tuesday, set a plethora of records on his way to a unbeaten 306 on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium here.

In reply to Sri Lanka's mammoth first innings total of 644 for seven declared, Younis, made captain in place of Shoaib Malik before the series, produced a marathon display of endurance and focus to take his team to 574 for five at stumps on the penulatimate day to see the match heading towards a dull draw.

By virtue of the 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 that an hour after tea on Tuesday.

Having moved onto 178 at lunch and 243 at tea on Tuesday after resuming 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 ecntury against Sri Lanka in Tests.