145;<i>Ab kidhar ball daloon</i>?146;

They could take a leaf out of the Pakistani batsmen, who were in peak form today, giving the Gaddafi crowd lots to cheer. The pressure was relentless; just when India thought they were back in the game, with the dismissals of Mohammad Yousuf 173 and Younis Khan 199, in walked Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal to score two more centuries.

8216;8216;Ab kidhar ball daloon? Where should I pitch the ball now?,8217;8217; Kumble asked Afridi after one of his good-length deliveries was hoisted over extra cover for four. It was that kind of day.

When Yousuf walked out to bat on Friday, Younis already had 60 runs to his credit. So fierce was the competition on Saturday, though, that there came a time when the former looked like sweeping past Younis8217; score to reach his double-hundred.

It wasn8217;t that the bowling was rank bad. The ball turned well, even for the likes of Kumble who looked like he had slowed down a bit to suit the wicket.

But the batsmen 8212; especially Yousuf 8212; used their feet immaculately, driving past the high-security zone of gully, square-leg, cover, extra-cover and long off, consistently and with ease.

Younis Khan became the seventh batsman overall and the second Pakistani ever to be dismissed on 199, but he will look back on the chanceless, authoritative knock with pride. It had 26 boundaries and not a single one was air-borne. Younis was harsh against the likes of Tendulkar and Pathan, belting them to his expectations, but remained at his defensive best against the likes of Harbhajan and Kumble.

Yousuf, on the other hand, took his chances well, the two towering sixes further accelerating his scoring on the placid wicket. His innings profited most from Agarkar and Harbhajan8217;s spells, when his strike rate crossed 100.

Then, at 11.30 a.m., the same time as when the partnership began yesterday, Kumble produced a beauty of a delivery that turned in sharply from outside leg and caught Yousuf off guard 8212; and far outside the crease. Dhoni had all the time in the world to remove the bails.

That precipitated a slight wobble, and Pakistan lost three 8212; Yousuf, Younis and Inzamam 8212; for 22 runs to give India a glimmer of daylight.

Then Afridi and Akmal slammed the door shut. They treated this as if it were a one-day match, each racing to his century. Most shots were over mid-wicket but there were some straight down the wicket too, and a few that hurried through the slips and fine-leg.

One memorable over saw Afridi hit Harbhajan for four consecutive sixes. He was all geared up for another two, but the 8216;8216;ball was wet and didn8217;t turn8217;8217; as he expected it to. 8216;8216;Iraada to wohi tha that was the intention,8217;8217; he clarified in case anyone doubted it.

When they8217;d finished, their 170-run stand for the sixth wicket had effectively demolished whatever shred of morale the Indian bowlers had left. And the declaration, when it came, was an act of mercy, rather like a heavyweight boxer having had enough of his sparring partner.

Memories of Multan were strong in the Indian camp through most of Saturday. But both sides will be aware that if any team can reply to this massive total, India can.

WHAT8217;S ON INZY8217;S MIND

8226; The main target now is to enforce a follow-on and we are only concentrating on that

8226; I know it will be tough for the bowlers because there isn8217;t much in the wicket. But we need to give our best shot because not every day you post a huge score. We will come out all guns firing and see what happens

8226; But one thing is for sure; we need to grab even the half chances on this track

8226; The batsmen justified my decision to bat first. All the batsmen realised their responsibilities and this is the highpoint of this team that everyone stands up and delivers his best

8226; Younis Khan played a gem and it was so sad to see him run-out for 199. But Shahid Afridi is someone who keeps everyone on the edge of their seats when he is batting. After he struck four straight sixes, I thought he had a good chance of hitting two more because Harbhajan Singh looked confused by then

8226; But Harbhajan is not a bunny and bowled the last two balls intelligently and avoided from going into history as the only bowler to be hit for six sixes

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