Inzamam rose to the occasion in his 100th Test

Inzamam-ul-Haq made a century in his 100th Test match as Pakistan ended the first day of the final Test against India in a strong position on 323-2.

Lakshmipathy Balaji and Irfan Pathan dismissed both openers to leave the tourists reeling on 7-2 in Bangalore.

But captain Inzamam took advantage of a good pitch to stroke a chanceless 184, while Younis Khan made a patient 127.

Their partnership of 316 is a record for any wicket by a touring team in India and should set up a big total.

It was just what the visitors needed as they looked to tie the series after their defeat in Calcutta.

The responsibility to show the way brought the best out of me Inzamam-ul-Haq More reaction

They replaced out-of-form opener Taufeeq Umar and seamer Mohammad Khalil with Yasir Hameed and off-spinner Arshad Khan, while India were unchanged.

Inzamam, who joined Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Salim Malik in reaching the 100-Test milestone for Pakistan, won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat on a benign-looking wicket.

But he was soon back out in the middle.

Day one photos

Balaji struck with the first ball of the second over, getting movement off the seam to induce Shahid Afridi into edging to Rahul Dravid at slip.

Yasir Hameed then played away from his body to edge an angling ball from Pathan to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.

That was as good as it got for India as their bowlers, in the absence of any real assistance from the pitch, repeatedly bowled too short at Inzamam and Younis.

The captain was quickly into his stride, driving and pulling with aplomb to bring up up his 50 off 85 balls.

By contrast, Younis relied mainly on ones and twos and completed his half-century off 115 deliveries after the interval.

CENTURIONS IN 100TH TEST Colin Cowdrey (Eng): v Aus, Edgbaston, 1968 Javed Miandad (Pkn): v Ind, Lahore, 1989 Gordon Greenidge (WI): v Eng, Antigua, 1990 Alec Stewart (Eng): v WI, Old Trafford, 2000 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pkn): v Ind, Bangalore, 2005

He proved the ideal foil to his skipper, who saw the ball well and continued to pick up boundaries with ease.

A superb cover drive off Pathan took Inzamam to 96 and he tucked the same bowler for a single to square-leg to bring up his 21st Test century.

There were also few difficulties after the tea interval - the only trouble Inzamam appeared to have was with fatigue.

He flicked a loose Anil Kumble delivery off his pads and pulled Harbhajan Singh through mid-wicket as the 200 partnership came up.

But then there was a delay while he received treatment from the physio for what looked like cramp.

Younis took that as a sign to step up his scoring rate and he smashed Harbhajan over long-on for the first six of the innings.

Inzamam was just brutal, every shot he played today was with ease and he made it look really easy From NU Have your say on TMS

The vice-captain tried to repeat the feat next ball but the doosra deceived him and he was lucky to see a miscue loft harmlessly towards long-off.

That was a rare scare on a day of records and celebrations, and an edge off Kumble brought Younis his eighth Test ton off 211 balls.

Sourav Ganguly shuffled his bowlers around and took the new ball with six overs left in the day in a bid to force a breakthrough.

But the two batsmen stood firm and took their partnership past the 300 mark - with Inzamam recording the highest individual score at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The day ended with another authoritative shot from Inzamam off Balaji on the off-side and it could be another busy day for the statisticians on Friday.

India: Sourav Ganguly (cpt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (cpt), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wkt), Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan.