MULTAN, Nov 23: A fine Mohammad Yousuf century and a defiant knock from all-rounder Abdul Razzaq helped Pakistan secure an honourable draw against the West Indies on the final day of the second Test at Multan Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

Pakistan, who had conceded a massive lead of 234 runs on the first innings, finished their second innings at 461 for seven on a day which witnessed engrossing cricket in the first two sessions.

The two sides now go off to Karachi for the third Test with Pakistan 1-0 up in the series after their nine-wicket victory in the first Test at Lahore.

West Indies’ hopes of squaring the series this morning began to vanish with time as the experienced Yousuf chalked up his 21st century in 72 Tests to rescue Pakistan on the fifth day. The stylish 32-year-old right-hander found an able partner in gutsy Abdul Razzaq as the two thwarted the West Indies’ desperate attempt to force a win and level the series.

Razzaq made his presence felt in the hour of need and made a vital contribution of 80 against the charging opposition bowling.

Yousuf, whose long vigil lasted 344 minutes, and Razzaq put on 148 priceless runs during the sixth-wicket stand in 158 minutes until both fell in successive Dave Mohammed overs with Shivnarine Chanderapaul catching both smartly in the mid-wicket region. Razzaq, whose selection for the Multan Test was criticised following his run of inconsistent performances in this form of the game, came good with his 118-ball knock which included eight fours and one six and was enough to silence his critics. However, this was only his fourth half century in the last 27 Test matches and he surely needs to improve on this performance to be an automatic selection in the playing XI.

But the man of the moment on Thursday was again Yousuf who, with enough luck on his side, could do no wrong given the form he is in. Like all good batsmen he remained unfazed by the dropped catches to score yet another big hundred. This was his fifth hundred in the last six Tests and he narrowly beat Brian Lara to the Man-of-the-Match award.

Tragically for him, he got out in the 190s for the third time in last four Tests – followed by his 192 apiece at Leeds and Lahore recently – while completing 1,000 runs against the West Indies, a milestone he shares with Sir Viv Richards, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Lara, the last-named also reaching the milestone in this game during the course of that memorable 216.

Earlier, the West Indies definitely clinched the honours in the first session of play as they picked up three Pakistan wickets in the extended period, which yielded 95 runs in 38 overs.

For the hosts, who resumed the day at 213 for two, the key factor of survival was the second new ball which was taken after 14 overs on Thursday.

At the start of play Lara employed both Dave Mohammed and Chris Gayle in tandem to ensure the new ball arrived inside the first hour of the morning. However, the first strike of the day was a bonus for West Indies when Imran got himself run out after adding only six more runs to his overnight 76.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, fielding at point made a brilliant save and in a flash threw the ball to wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin whhho broke the stumps. Imran made the cardinal sin of following the ball after playing the shot and was left stranded when Yousuf turned his back on him for a run that never existed.

Pakistan nearly lost another wicket in the very next over when Inzamam, warmly cheered to the middle by a small crowd, scampered home as Chanderpaul pounced in from the covers to rattle the stumps once again.

But the Pakistan skipper clearly looked off-colour and never really settled down after that close call. It did not come as a surprise when the burly batsman departed for a scratchy 10 compiled in a distressed 64-minute stay.

Taylor, without doubt the bowler of the match for the West Indies, trapped Inzamam leg-before-wicket as the big man shaped to work the ball that straightened to catch him in front of the middle stump.

Shoaib Malik hung around for 48 minutes without making much impression before going out to bizarre circumstances. Trying to defend a short of length delivery from Powell with soft hands, Shoaib failed to kick the ball away after it landed on the pitch and rolled onto the leg stump to dislodge the bails.

Pakistan, just 50 runs in front at lunch, were still not out of the woods when the second session started. Slowly but surely, Yousuf and Razzaq neutralized whatever advantage West Indies had by then. Playing some fine drives coupled with stout defence they took Pakistan to safer shores with a defiant partnership for the seventh wicket.

The game gradually turned into an anticlimax in the post-tea session and was declared a draw by umpires Daryl Harper and Mark Benson as soon as Yousuf was dismissed for 191 in the fourth mandatory over of the evening. This was the first drawn Test at the Multan cricket stadium which has seen all previous five Test yielding a result.

Overall, the West Indies held the upper hand in Multan and will be fancying their chances in Karachi which promises to be livelier track compared to the one prepared for the second Test.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN 1st innings 357 (Imran Farhat 74, Younis Khan 56, Mohammad Yousuf 56; J. E. Taylor 5-91)

WEST INDIES 1st innings 591 (B.C. Lara 216, C.H. Gayle 93, D.J. Bravo 89, D. Ganga 82; Danish Kaneria 5-181)

PAKISTAN 2nd innings (overnight 213-2)

Mohammad Hafeez b Taylor 18

Imran Farhat run out 76

Younis Khan c Ramdin b Mohammed 56

Mohd Yousuf c Chanderpaul b Mohammed 191

Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Taylor 10

Shoaib Malik b Powell 4

Abdul Razzaq c Chanderpaul b Mohammed 80

Kamran Akmal not out 2

EXTRAS: (B-8, LB-10, NB-3, W-3) 24

TOTAL: (for 7 wkts, 147.4 overs) 461

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24, 2-124, 3-243, 4-284, 5-306, 6-458, 7-461.

BOWLING: Taylor 25-34-75-2, Collymore 28-9-66-0, Gayle 29-5-85-0 Powell 20-6-47-1, Bravo 13-3-40-0, Mohammed 27.4-4-101-3, Chanderpaul 2-0-9-0, Morton 3-0-20-0

RESULT: Match Drawn

UMPIRES: Daryl Harper (AUS), Mark Benson (ENG)

TV UMPIRE: Zameer Haider (PAK)

MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)