Masood joins elite list of openers

KARACHI: Left-handed opener Shan Masood has managed to carve his name in the record books with a career-best 156 against England on Thursday.

On the second day of the first Test, Shan became the sixth Pakistani batsman to score centuries in three consecutive innings in Test cricket.

The lanky Shan, who scored 156 against England in Pakistan’s first innings at Old Trafford, had scored 100 against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in February this year, and 135 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in December last year.

Before him, Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq had achieved this feat.

Moreover, his century was the first from a Pakistani opener in England in the current century. The last Pakistani opener who scored a Test century in England was Saeed Anwar (176 at Oval in 1996).

Besides, the 30-year-old became the third Pakistani batsman and second opener to score a century at Old Trafford. Opener Aamer Sohail scored 205 in the 1992 series and Inzamam-ul-Haq scored 114 in the 2001 series.