Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq’s long wait for an one-day international century continued on Saturday as he fell short by 35 runs in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka at Mirpur.
Pakistan were in early trouble, losing the wickets of Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez in the first, third and fifth overs respectively, and Misbah came out to bat in the fourth over hoping to resurrect his side’s innings.
Alongside Fawad Alam, the Pakistan skipper added 122 valuable runs for the fourth wicket to bring his team back into the game.
But once again after being set at the crease and seemingly headed towards that elusive 100, Misbah departed after making 65 off 98 deliveries.
The fourth-wicket pair initially found scoring difficult, as the 12th and 13th overs ended in maidens.
Misbah and Fawad gathered momentum slowly, picking up ones and twos and adding the odd boundary.
Misbah scored 20 runs from the first 48 deliveries but later accelerated his strike rate to garner 45 runs from the next 49 balls.
And then he was dismissed trying to hit Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga for his third six, only to present a catch at long on, where the waiting Kusal Perera denied Misbah again.
With 25 half-centuries, New Zealand’s Andrew Jones was the previous record-holder for the most ODI fifties scored without a century.
Misbah broke that record long ago and now stands on 37 one-day fifties without a century.
And as for the record for the most ODI runs scored without a century, Misbah owns it too.
Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram had 3717 runs to his name before he retired without a single ODI ton. After the Asia Cup final, Misbah had accumulated 4527 runs in 133 innings.
The closest Misbah came to an ODI hundred was last year, when he remained unbeaten on 96 against West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval.
Only time will tell if that was the nearest he will ever come to an ODI ton.
-With New Age input
