KARACHI, Oct 8: When local hero Azhar Mahmood reached his century on the third morning of the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, he established a new record in the 121-year-old Test history.

Azhar's 128 not out alongwith opener Ali Naqvi's 115 on the opening day of match is the first ever instance of two debutantes scoring hundreds in the same Test innings.

Previously, there have been two other such feats of two batsmen scoring centuries on Test debut, but they represented rival teams. In the inaugural Test match on the Indian soil at Bombay's Gymkhana Ground in 1933-34, Bryan Valentine made 136 for England and Lala Amarnath scored 118 for India.

In the Port-of-Spain Test of 1947-48, Billy Griffith became the only player to score his maiden first-class century in his first Test innings for England when he made 140. Andy Ganteaume scored 112 in his only visit to the crease for the West Indies in that match. Curiously, he never played again.

Hitherto, there were a couple of occasions when two debutantes narrowly failed to reach the landmark of scoring centuries in the same Test innings. Pakistani opening pair Khalid Ibadulla made 166 and Abdul Kadir 95 against Australia in the one-off Test at Karachi in 1964-65 while the Indian duo of Saurav Ganguly (131) and Rahul Dravid (95) also came perilously close to achieving the feat against England in the Lord's Test last year.

Azhar Mahmood, who was born at Rawalpindi on 28 Feb 1975, made his first-class debut for Islamabad against Sargodha in 1993-94. But till Wednesday, his highest score in first-class cricket was 92 for Pakistan 'A' during the tour of England this year.

Azhar, therefore, became the 27th batsman to score his maiden first-class hundred in Test and the second Pakistani after Nasim-ul- Ghani (who scored 101 against England at Lord's in 1962). However, Azhar is only the sixth one to do so on his Test debut. Others are Charles Bannerman (165 not out for Australia against England at Melbourne in the first-ever Test match in 1876-77), Harry Graham (107 for Australia against England at Lord's in 1893), Billy Griffith as mentioned above, Bruce Taylor (105 for New Zealand against India at Calcutta in 1964-65) and Brendon Kuruppu (201 not out for Sri Lanka against New Zealand at Colombo in 1986-87).

The 151-run partnership between Azhar, the fourth debutante to score a hundred while batting at No 8, and Mushtaq Ahmed, which equalled a 25-year-old world Test record, is only the 14th stand of 100 or more runs for the last wicket in 1380 Tests. All instances are given as under in descending order:

151 - Azhar Mahmood (128*) and Mushtaq Ahmed (59), Pakistan v South Africa at Rawalpindi, 1997-98.

151 - B.F.Hastings (110) and R.O.Collinge (68*), New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland, 1972-73.

133 - Wasim Raja (71) and Wasim Bari (60*), Pakistan v West Indies at Bridgetown, 1976-77.

130 - R.E.Foster (287), W.Rhodes (40*), England v Australia at Sydney, 1903-04.

128 - K.Higgs (63) and J.A.Snow (59*), England v West Indies at The Oval, 1966.

127 - J.M.Taylor (108) and A.A.Mailey (46*), Australia v England at Sydney, 1924-25.

124 - J.G.Bracewell (83*) and S.L.Boock (37), New Zealand v Australia at Sydney, 1985-86.

120 - R.A.Duff (104) and W.W.Armstrong (45*), Australia v England at Melbourne, 1901-02.

117* - P.Willey (100*) and R.G.D.Willis (24*), England v West Indies at The Oval, 1980.

109 - H.R.Adhikari (81*) and Ghulam Ahmed (50), India v Pakistan at Delhi, 1952-53.

106* - N.J.Astle (102*) and D.K.Morrison (14*), New Zealand v England at Auckland, 1996-97.

106 - C.L.Hooper (178*) and C.A.Walsh (30), West Indies v Pakistan at St John's, 1992-93.

104 - Zulfiqar Ahmed (63*) and Amir Elahi (47), Pakistan v India at Madras, 1952-53.

103 - H.G.Owen-Smith (129) and A.J.Bell (26*), South Africa v England at Leeds, 1929.