Fawad becomes fastest Pakistani to score 5 Test tons

Pakistan left-handed batsman Fawad Alam has become the fastest Pakistan batsman to register five Test hundreds. The middle-order batsman created history during the ongoing second Test match between Pakistan and West Indies at Sabina Park, Jamaica.

The left-handed batsman scored his fifth Test ton only in his 22nd innings. Former Pakistan skipper Younis Khan was the fastest from the country before Fawad broke his record. Earlier, ex-caprtain Younis had scored his first five Test tons in 28 innings. He is followed by Saleem Malik, who achieved the feat in 29 innings. Fawad also became the sixth Pakistan batsman to score a century at Sabina Park, joining Imtiaz Ahmed (122 in 1958), Wazir Mohammad (106 in 1958), Asif Iqbal (135 in 1977), Younis Khan (106 in 2005) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (117 not out in 2005). The 35-year-old left-hander also became the quickest Asian batsman to score five Test centuries in 22 innings, eclipsing Cheteshwar Puraja (24 innings) and Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Gavaskar (both achieved in 25 innings). The middle session was at times as soporific as the weather delays over the past four sessions had been, with just six runs scored in the day's first ten overs. Mohammad Rizwan and Ashraf eventually brought up the 50-run partnership, but were, in truth, going nowhere, even though Pakistan needed to force a result. Much of that was thanks to regimentally disciplined bowling, with the quick bowlers allowing few run-scoring opportunities.

Those wicket-to-wicket lines paid off, with both men dismissed lbw. Ashraf was the first to go, leaving a gap between bat and pad that Seales honed in on, while Rizwan moved too far across to Holder and caught himself stuck in front. Nauman Ali was dispatched for a first ball duck, and suddenly Holder found himself on a hat-trick, while West Indies sniffed a collapse. Meanwhile, Pakistan converted their overnight 212-4 into 302-9, before declaring against Windies. Fawad struck an unbeaten 124, resuming his innings on 76 after retiring from heat exhaustion. The man of the day for Pakistan, though, was indisputably Alam, who continued to make a mockery of his decade-long exclusion from the national side with his fourth hundred this year. He had come back on after retiring hurt on the first day, and following the flurry of wickets at the other end, realised it was time to kick on. A flick of the wrists that brought him four broke the shackles, and he found himself inching towards three figures. A pull to midwicket took him to the landmark, and as the dressing room rose as one, Alam raised his bat; he had overseen a Pakistan fightback in the session and ensured they ended the innings on their terms. After tea, he kicked on in an entertaining 35-run stand with a cavalier Afridi, and when the No. 10 fell, Babar called his players back in. It felt only right that Alam went in undefeated, and, ever the team man, might have set Pakistan up for a remarkable series-salvaging win in the time that remains.