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Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Asian Test Championship, Lahore, March 4-8, 1999

Hashan Tillekeratne became the seventh player to captain Sri Lanka in Tests. And by doing so while playing in his 55th Test match he became the most experienced Sri Lankan to lead a Test side. Ranatunga was appearing in his 25th match when he led his team against Australia at Brisbane in 1989 for the first time.

Imran Nazir at 17 years and 79 days became the 10th youngest player (and the 9th youngest Pakistani) to appear in Tests. He also became Pakistan's 157th Test player.

Avishka Gunawardene became Sri Lanka's 76th Test player.

Wajahatullah Wasti (133 & 121*) became the third Pakistani to score a hundred in each innings of a Test match. The others being Hanif Mohammad (111 & 104 v England at Dhaka in 1961-62) and Javed Miandad (104 & 103* v New Zealand at Hyderabad, Pak in 1984-85). It was the 49th such instance in Test cricket, and Wasti became the 41st batsman to do so.

Wasti also becomes the second batsman to do so against Sri Lanka. The other batsman being New Zealand's Andrew Jones (122 & 100*) at Hamilton in 1990-91.

By achieving the feat in his only second Test match, Wasti almost emulated West Indian Lawrence Rowe who had scored hundreds in each innings on his debut Test (214 and 100* v New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72). Some of the other batsmen who have achieved this feat after appearing in least matches are West Indian George Headley (3rd match); Australians Arthur Morris and John Moroney and India's Sunil Gavaskar - all in the fourth match of their career. Just for the record, the batsmen needing the maximum matches to achieve this feat was Australian Steve Waugh. He did so in his 92nd match in 1997.

The fourth wicket partnership of 178 between Wasti and Yousuf Youhana in the first innings was Pakistan's best against Sri Lanka. It betters the previous best of 162 between Salim Malik and Javed Miandad at Karachi in 1981-82.

Pramodaya Wickremasinghe's 6-103 in Pakistan's first innings was the second best bowling performance by a Sri Lankan bowler on Pakistani soil. The best remains 8-83 by Ravi Ratnayeke at Sialkot during the 1985-86 series.

Incidentally it was the fourth best performance by a Sri Lankan pace bowler in an "away" Test match. The other performances being the 8-83 by Ravi Ratnayeke (above); 7-116 by Ravindra Pushpakumara at Harare in 1994-95 and 6-66 by Rumesh Ratnayake at Hobart in 1989-90.

Interestingly, the top three bowling performances of Wickremasinghe's Test career have all come in Pakistan. Listed below are his best bowling performances: 6-103 in this Test, 5-73 at Faisalabad in 1991-92 and 4-55 at Sialkot in 1995-96

Russel Arnold playing in his fifth Test match scored his maiden Test hundred (123). His hundred was the second highest by a Sri Lankan batsman in Pakistan. Sidhath Wettimuny's 157 at Faisalabad in 1981-82 remains the best.

The fifth wicket partnership of 143 runs between Arnold and Romesh Kaluwitharana was Sri Lanka's best against Pakistan. It obliterates the previous best of 125 runs between Arjuna Rantunga and Hashan Tillekeratne at Peshawar in 1995-96. In fact it fell short of Sri Lanka's all time best for the fifth wicket by just 7 runs! The best still remains as 150 between Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis against England at Lord's in 1984.

Kaluwitharana's 100 was his third of his career. It takes him past the previous record held by Amal Silva and himself to become the scorer of maximum Test hundreds by a Sri Lankan wicket-keeper.

Incidentally, Kaluwitharana became the only second wicket-keeper to score a hundred on Pakistani soil. The first being New Zealander Warren Lees when he scored 152 at Karachi in 1976-77.

Altough Wasim Akram became the 22nd bowler to claim Test cricket's 24th hat-trick, he was the first to do so as a captain. And by playing in his 87th match he became the most experienced - in terms of playing maximum Tests while claiming a hat-trick.

Although it was the fourth Test hat-trick in Pakistan and the third at Lahore, Wasim Akram became the first bowler from the sub-continent to achieve this rare feat.

Wasim also becomes the only third left-arm bowler to take a hat-trick after Englishman Johnny Briggs (in 1891-92) and Australian Lindsay Kline (in 1957-58). With Briggs and Kline being slow bowlers, Wasim remains the only left-arm paceman to do so.

Lahore, in fact holds the unique distinction of witnessing hat-tricks at seperate grounds. West Indian Wes Hall achieved his hat-trick at the Lawrence Gardens ground in March, 1959, while New Zealander Peter Petherick (in October, 1976) and now Wasim did so at the Gaddafi Stadium. Australian Damien Fleming was the other bowler to capture a hat-trick in Pakistan - at Rawalpindi in October, 1994.

India and Zimbabwe now become the only teams not to concede a hat-trick in Tests. And interestingly both India and Zimbabwe, along with Sri Lanka are now the only teams without a Test hat-trick bowler.

Incidentally it was the fifth hat-trick during the nineties - the most for any decade. The decades of 1890s and 1950s saw three hat-tricks each.

The 156 run partnership for the opening wicket between Wasti and Shahid Afridi in the second innings was the eighth best partnership for the first wicket for Pakistan. However, it was the best against Sri Lanka. The previous best of 128 runs was achieved twice by Rameez Raja and Shoaib Mohammad (at Sialkot 1991-92) and by Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar (at Colombo, Sarvanamuttu Stadium, 1994-95).

During his innings of 45 (when on 18) Saeed Anwar reached his 3000th run to become the 11th Pakistani and the 102nd batsman in Test history to do so. It was his 40th Test and 68th innings. Only Javed Miandad has done it quicker for Pakistan - in 39 matches and 67 innings.