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India make brisk start in chase for 383-run target
India were 25/0 at stumps, needing 358 more from 90 overs on final day. Score | Action Replay | Player of the day | Pictures
A blistering half-century from opener Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan's solid 84 not out allowed Pakistan to set India a challenging 383-run target in the third and final Test on Sunday.
Afridi (58) completed his fifty off just 26 deliveries, the quickest by a Pakistani batsman and the second-fastest in Test cricket, as the tourists declared their second innings on 261/2.
India were 25 for no loss at stumps on the fourth day, with Gautam Gambhir (19) and Virender Sehwag (six) at the crease. They now need 358 in a minimum of 90 overs on what promises to be an exciting final day.
Younis was 16 short of becoming the first Pakistani batsman to crack a double-century and a hundred in the same Test when Pakistan declared their innings. He scored 267 in the first innings.
Pakistan, trailing 1-0 after their defeat in the second Test at Kolkata, had to go for a win by putting quick runs on the board.
They found the right man in Afridi, who smashed two sixes and eight fours in his 34-ball knock to give his team with an explosive start.
Yasir Hameed scored a responsible 76 for his seventh Test half-century and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq an unbeaten 31.
Afridi equalled Englishman Ian Botham's record for the second-fastest Test fifty (vs India in 1981-82). But he missed by two balls the world record of a 24-ball half-century set by South African Jacques Kallis against Zimbabwe at home last month.
Afridi broke compatriot Yousuf Youhana's feat of a 27-ball fifty (vs South Africa in 2002) when he swung Anil Kumble for his second six, the ball hitting Irfan Pathan's hands at long-leg before going over the boundary.
