5 Best Innings of Inzamam-Ul-Haq

Let us have a look at the five best innings of Inzamam-Ul-Haq. He is one the all time greatest batsmen with more than 20,000 runs in International cricket. The former Pakistani Captain had the lazy elegance in his batting and his effortless strokeplay has won many matches for his team. He was controversial at times and was criticized very much for his physique and poor running between the wickets, but there was no denial of the fact that his presence in middle was always seen as a threat to opposition bowlers. Let us see his top five innings:

5. 122 vs India

In the first match of the historic ODI series of 2004 in Pakistan, combination of some poor bowling by the hosts and some fantastic batting by the visitors helped India post a gigantic total of 349 on the board. In those days this was almost impossible to achieve the target normally and the only hope for Pakistan was some sort of a miracle. But early loss of attacking pair of openers Hameed and Farhat tainted the hopes badly. Then Inzamam came out to the middle to play a gem of an innings. His partnerships with Yousuf and Younis brought Pakistan agonizingly close to the target, but eventually fell short by 5 runs. Inzy scored an exquisite 122 of just 104 balls.

 

     4. 92* vs South Africa

Pakistan came trailing in the second Test match of the 3 Test series by 0-1 in 2007 in South Africa. The Pakistani bowlers put their team on top in the first innings when they managed to bundle up the hosts for a mere 124. Now the onus was on the batsmen, and then some small knocks from Akmal and Younis put Pakistan in to the lead but after their departure Inzamam coming in at number 7 scored a crucial 92 having the tailenders around him. This innings gave Pakistan a big lead of 141 which was instrumental in deciding the fate of the game. Pakistan won the game by 5 wickets later. The Skipper was awarded the man of the match for his all important knock and some good captaincy.

 

     3. 60 vs New Zealand

In the 1992 World Cup semi finals when Inzamam came out to bat, Pakistan was still 124 runs short of the target set by the Kiwis with around 15 overs to spare and given the conditions in Auckland, the bet was always on the hosts. But Inzy pulled off a stunning win for Pakistan. He scored a quick fire 60 of just 37 balls to guide his team to the target. Inzy announced his arrival to the international stage with this knock. Pakistan eventually ended up winning the world cup later beating England in the final.

 

     2. 329 vs New Zealand

Inzamam achieved his highest score in Test cricket with his master class 329 against the Blackcaps in Lahore. He pulled the guns up on the Kiwis with his majestic batting and the New Zealander bowlers remained helpless in front of his flawless batting. Thanks to the triple hundred Pakistan put on a mammoth score of 643 and won the Test by an innings and 324 runs.

 

     1. 148 vs England

Inzamam scored a stand alone 148 against England at Lord’s in the first innings of the first Test of the series in 1996. He held one end when wickets were falling from the other end and scored a hard fought century in tough conditions. This century took Pakistan to 340 which proved to be intrumental in Pakistan winning the Test. He also scored 70 runs in second innings.