Pakistan skipper Babar Azam continues to achieve greater heights at the International level. He slammed a century against West Indies in the first ODI on Wednesday to lead his team to a five-wicket win at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Babar Azam came out to bat at number three, after the fall of Fakhar Zaman’s wicket early in the innings. He partnered with Imam-ul-Haq at the crease to put together a 103 runs stan for the second wicket. After the fall of Imam-ul-Haq’s wicket for 65 runs, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan put on 108 runs. The Pakistan skipper scored 103 runs off 107 balls, with nine boundaries.
During the course of his knock, Babar Azam broke Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest to score 1,000 runs as captain in the ODI format. Kohli had reached the figure in 17 innings, while Babar took just 13 innings.
Meanwhile, he also surpassed AB de Villiers (20 innings) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (23 innings) to achieve the record.
We're living in the @babarazam258 era 🤩
The 🇵🇰 captain brings up his 17th ODI century 🙌#PAKvWI | #KhelAbhiBaqiHai pic.twitter.com/Vp5oN70gWy
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 8, 2022
Chasing 306 runs, Pakistan won the match by five wickets, on the back of significant contributions from Imam-ul-Haq (65 runs), Babar Azam (103 runs), and Mohammad Rizwan (59 runs), and Khushdil Shah (41* runs).
Babar Azam sets a unique record with his ODI century
This was Babar Azam’s third consecutive century in the ODI format. The previous two came against Australia at home in Pakistan. Babar had slammed 114 and 105* in the two ODIs against Australia. This is the second occurrence of him scoring three centuries on the trot in the ODIs.
In 2016, Babar Azam slammed 120, 123, and 117 in three successive matches against the West Indies in the United Arab Emirates. With this century on Wednesday, the Pakistan skipper became the first player to achieve the feat in ODIs.
The second ODI between Pakistan and West Indies will take place on Friday, June 10 in Rawalpindi. Pakistan is leading the three-match ODI series 1-0.
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