Yousuf, Akmal put Pakistan in command
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Mohammad Yousuf extinguished England’s realistic hopes of salvaging a drawn series as he neared his third double-century for Pakistan by stumps on a demoralising third day for the tourists in the final Test at Lahore.
Yousuf shared a record sixth-wicket partnership of 199 — Pakistan’s highest against England — with centurion Kamran Akmal (115no) on his way to a tour de force personal tally of 183 not out which took him 335 balls, contained 21 fours and a six and has encompassed five full sessions of batting.
The middle-order batsman was content to allow his partners to make the pace as he oversaw a handy stand with Shoaib Akhtar before his unbroken alliance with Kamran which carried Pakistan to 446 for five and into a match-controlling first-innings lead of 158 as England ran out of ideas. Formerly known as Yousuf Youhana in his days before converting from Christianity, Pakistan’s mainstay marked his first hundred as a Muslim by kneeling to the turf in an Islamic ‘Sajda’ gesture - after reaching three figures in the grand manner with his only six, down the ground off Shaun Udal.
England managed a solitary wicket in 76 overs on a day when their hopes of victory faded dramatically to the point where their remaining objective in this match may instead have to be downgraded to avoiding a defeat which would make the final series score 2-0 to Pakistan. Nightwatchman Shoaib began the morning session still in apparent slumber, taking 21 balls to register his first run. But he then wasted little time as he progressed to a career-best 38 to provide the momentum in his 67-run stand with Yousuf until he skied a catch to cover in Liam Plunkett’s first over.
Yousuf, whose century on his home ground was a reprise of a similar effort at the same Gaddafi Stadium the last time England toured Pakistan five years ago, then discovered a new and hugely significant ally in Kamran. The pair kicked on with intent as the tourists failed to use the second new ball as they needed to.
England’s response was to resort to a barrage of bouncers, which turned out to be a toothless tactic as Yousuf refused to take the bait and dealt admirably even with the occasional steepling lift available to Stephen Harmison. The stalemate was alleviated by Kamran - whose 178-ball century contained nine pleasingly pulled or driven boundaries and allowed Yousuf to continue to dictate his own unhurried tempo.
England, who were paying dearly for the moment when Andrew Flintoff dropped Yousuf on 16 off Harmison on Wednesday, never came close to breaking the sixth-wicket stand until Marcus Trescothick was unable to hang on to a tough half-chance at wide slip offered by Kamran when he edged a drive at Plunkett five runs short of his hundred. Yousuf ploughed on remorselessly as he dispirited the tourists with a risk-free approach, punctuated infrequently with a sweetly-timed boundary but for the most part kept ticking over by expert deflections for ones and twos.
On a surface which remained slow and true yet still offered a little assistance to the bowlers, Kamran was more adventurous and therefore provided an ideal foil for Yousuf as the hosts scored at an acceptable rate midway between three and four an over.
Even in the absence of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq - who retired hurt on day two - Pakistan therefore assumed a near impregnable position, leaving England to contemplate the evident probability of a first series defeat since their last visit to the sub-Continent two years ago.