Of hat-tricks, batting recoveries and most sixes in a series

* Irfan Pathan became only the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to perform a Test hat-trick. This provided the very first instance of a bowler claiming three wickets off successive balls in the first over of a Test match. However, there have been three instances where the show began in the first over of an innings and was completed in the third - Merv Hughes first did so against West Indies at Perth in 1988-89, Wasim Akram against Sri Lanka at Dhaka in 1999, and Jermaine Lawson against Australia at Barbados in 2003. Nuwan Zoysa of Sri Lanka still remains the only bowler to take a hat-trick off the first three balls he bowled in a Test match - against Zimbabwe at Harare in November 1999. Overall it was the 36th hat-trick by the 33rd bowler and the fifth against Pakistan, all of which have been on Pakistan sol.

* Only for the fourth time in a Test innings a team lost its first three wickets without disturbing the scorers. The worst ever start to a Test innings, in terms of most wickets fallen without a run, belongs to India when they collapsed to 0 for 4 against England at Leeds in 1952. Pakistan’s eventual recovery today to 245 all-out is now the highest innings total by a side after such a start. It was also the second such instance on the first day of a Test match. See Table 1.

* Pakistan created a new world record of most runs added by a side after being six wickets down for 40 or less runs. The previous record in this regard was held by Australia against England when Aussies were six down for 38 before being bundled out for 184. Pakistan’s total of 245 is also the highest by any side after such a collapse. See Table 2.

* Kamran Akmal has now scored four hundreds as a wicketkeeper. He now equalled Moin Khan’s record of most hundreds by a Pakistani wicketkeeper in Tests. He also became only the 12th keeper to score four or more hundreds in Test cricket.

* Akmal crossed the 1000 Test career runs mark when he reached 45 during his splendid innings of 113. It was the 35th innings of his 21st Test. He thus became the second quickest Pakistani glove-man, after Imtiaz Ahmed who did so in 31 innings, to reach 1000 runs. Overall he is the sixth Pakistani keeper to reach this milestone. At the age of 24 years and 16 days, Akmal also became the youngest Pakistani and only the third youngest keeper overall to do so. See Table 3 & 4.

* Akmal equalled Kumar Sangakkara’s world record of most Test 100s by a wicketkeeper before his 25th birthday. Sangakkara had scored four centuries before crossing the silver jubilee of his life. Akmal was aged 24 years and 16 days on the first day of the Karachi Test. See Table 5.

* The 115-run partnership between Kamran Akmal and Abdur Razzaq is now the highest ever by any side for the seventh wicket after being six down for 50 runs or less. The previous record in this regard was of 84 runs between Salim Malik and Moin Khan, in quite a same situation as it was today, against India at Calcutta in 1999. See Table 6.

* Shoaib Akhtar’s solitary six today created a new world record of most sixes in a three-match series by both sides. This was actually the 41st hit over the ropes in the on-going series. It broke the previous record of 40 sixes set by England and New Zealand during the three Test series in 2001-02 season. See Table 7.

* India left out Harbhajan Singh for the third Test. This means the world record of most balls bowled without a wicket in a Test series is still intact. Harbhajan had bowled 486 balls in the first two Tests of the series without a solitary success. This is now the second worst effort without a wicket, in terms of balls bowled, in two matches of a series by a bowler. John Emburey of England holds the world record of bowling 642 balls without a wicket in any Test series. Just for record, Harbhajan has already earned the dubious distinction conceding most runs (355) in a Test series without a wicket. See Table 8.

* Pakistan is playing a Test without Inzamam for the first time since last May when they were thrashed by West Indies at Bridgetown by 276 runs. Without Inzamam, Pakistan has a 50-50 win-loss record ever since the giant has made his Test debut in June 1992. In 14 matches without Inzamam during that period Pakistan has won 6, lost 6 and drew 2.Click to see the tables