Sports

PAK vs WI, 1st ODI: Babar Azam Breaks Virat Kohli’s World Record With Century Against West Indies

June 9, 2022
Bharat Times

Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Wednesday altered the record books with his brilliant hundred against West Indies in the first ODI in Multan. He scored 103 off 107 deliveries as the Men in Green defeated Nicholas Pooran & Co by 5 wickets. It was Babar’s third century on the trot in ODIs. The previous two came against Australia during Pakistan’s last bilateral series at home in which he registered the scores of 114 and 105* in the last two games. This was also Babar’s 17th ODI century in 87 matches.

This is the second time when Babar scored three consecutive centuries in ODIs. Back in 2016, he had smashed three back-to-back centuries against West Indies in the UAE, scoring 120, 123, and 117 respectively. Wednesday’s ton let the Pakistan captain enter the record books as he became the first player ever to do so in ODIs.

With this feat, Babar also surpassed the long-standing record of Virat Kohli, becoming the fastest to score 1,000 runs as captain in the format. He achieved the milestone in his 13th innings as Pakistan captain while Kohli had taken 17 innings to get there.

Eventually, Babar left behind the likes of former South Africa captain AB de Villiers (20 innings) and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (23 innings) for the feat. The 27-year-old is currently ranked no.1 in the ICC ODI rankings for batters.

On Wednesday, Shai Hopes’ hundred went in vain following the superb knocks from Imam-ul-Haq (65), Babar (103) and Rizwan (59) as Pakistan took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.

Azam and Imam raised 103 runs for the second wicket. The Pakistan captain then added 108 runs for the third wicket with Rizwan before Khushdil Shah (41 not out off 23 balls) sealed victory with a late cameo as Pakistan did enough to sneak past Shai Hope and the West Indies.

It was only Khushdil’s fifth ODI, but he is making a name for himself as a reliable closer after he performed a similar role with aplomb against Australia in March.

Earlier, Hope had scored 127 to help West Indies reach 305/8 in 50 overs but with Babar and his boys standing tall, Pakistan reached 306.5 in 42.9 overs to win the first match of the series.

(With Agency Inputs)

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