Khan targets Lara's record

Pakistan captain Younus Khan on Tuesday set a target of 40 overs in which to bat and break Brian Lara's world record of 400 runs in a Test match.

Khan will resume on 306 on Wednesday - the last day of the first Test against Sri Lanka - needing a further 95 runs to surpass the former West Indies captain's record innings scored against England at Antigua in 2004.

Khan's maiden triple century - only the third by a Pakistani batsman - helped his team to avoid the follow-on and finish the fourth day at 574-5. Sri Lanka declared its first innings at an imposing 644-7.

"I want to bat around 40 overs tomorrow and if I have a chance to come close to the record it's fine," the 31-year-old Khan said.

Khan, who came out to bat late on the second day, has hit 27 fours and four sixes in his marathon stay of 12 hours and 11 minutes at the crease.

He was hardly troubled by Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran, against whom he played a reverse sweep shot to complete his triple century.

Although his knock puts him in position to chase the record, Khan considered his previous Test best of 267 when he led Pakistan to victory against India, at Bangalore in 2005, to be more of an achievement than the triple century on Tuesday.

"I think the innings at Bangalore was more important because we won that match," Khan said. "We were playing in India after a long time and managed to draw the series. I rate that innings more highly than today's one."

Khan said he wanted to give his bowlers some time to get back into rhythm on the last day before the second Test begins at Lahore on March 1.

"We have young bowlers like Yasir Arafat, Sohail Khan and Umar Gul, who all need some bowling practice to get back into rhythm.”

The Pakistan captain dedicated his triple hundred to his family and friends and said he was lucky to achieve the landmark after playing in 59 Test matches.