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Faisalabad set on fire by double ton 'Sana'
Jayasuriya makes "Jayasikurui"
FAISALABAD, Pakistan, Oct 23 (AFP) - Master opener Sanath Jayasuriya hit an epic double hundred to put Sri Lanka on the road to victory on the fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan at Iqbal stadium here on Saturday.

Jayasuriya's magnificent 253 enabled Sri Lanka to post 438 in their second innings and give Pakistan a world record equalling 418-run target to win. At close Pakistan were struggling at 114-4 with Yousuf Youhana on 23 and Shoaib Malik on three, with lanky paceman Dilhara Fernando claiming all four wickets in a spell of nine overs for 27 runs.

Pakistan faces a huge task to avert defeat as they need to play out 83 overs on the last day Sunday for a draw, or score 304 runs to win the match. West Indies set the world record for the highest run chase last year in scoring 418 to beat Australia in the St John's Test.

If Pakistan is to win, they will also have to far surpass their previous best final-innings chase of 315-9 against Australia in a 1994 match when they were set a target of 314 to win.

Pakistan got off to a positive start in their run chase with Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat putting on 59 for the opening partnership in quick time. But the 25-year-old Fernando put the brakes on when he trapped Hameed leg before wicket for 17 in his second over, then followed up by bowling Asim Kamal for one in his fourth.

He continued his destruction in his seventh over when he had Farhat trapped leg before for 53, then claimed the prized scalp of skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, bowling him with a low delivery for three runs.

After a relatively restrained performance on Friday when Jayasuriya was forced to subdue Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar, 35-year-old Jayasuriya dominated the hosts' attack on Saturday.

His 348-ball innings lasted 490 minutes and included 33 fours and four sixes, one of which came when he pulled an Akhtar short delivery to register the third double century of his career.

It took Jayasuriya 446 minutes and 301 deliveries to reach the 200 mark, with 108 of the runs coming from boundaries and another 12 in sixes. "It is a fantasic feeling to have scored such a big score, and more so because it contributed to the team's position of a near win," said Jayasuriya.

"I hope we will not find any problems to dipose of the remaining six wickets and win a Test outside Sri Lanka," he said. Jayasuriya went berserk in the post-lunch session with the maestro taking 60 off six overs after Pakistan surprisingly took the second new ball.

Jayasuriya shielded number 10 batsmen Dilhara Fernando while he mauled the Pakistani attack, at one stage hitting Akhtar for three consecutive boundaries and later striking two sixes off Shoaib Malik to reach 250. Fernando was finally run out after contributing a mere one run in a ninth wicket stand of 101.

Jayasuriya's 253 is the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan against Pakistan, beating 230 runs made by teammate Kumar Sangakkara in the Asian championship final in Lahore two years ago.

Jayasuriya was dismissed shortly after Fernando fell when he played a tired push and was trapped leg before off leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who was the pick of the home bowlers with 4-117.

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