Babar Azam scored his maiden World Cup century in a must-win game against New Zealand at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Wednesday. Azam remained unbeaten for 101 runs from 127 balls including 11 fours to guide Pakistan to a victory by six wickets. On his way to 10th ODI century, the Pakistan top order batsmen became the second fastest batsman to reach 3,000 ODI runs in terms of innings.
Babar Azam scored his maiden World Cup century in a must-win game against New Zealand at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Wednesday. Azam remained unbeaten for 101 runs from 127 balls including 11 fours to guide Pakistan to a victory by six wickets. On his way to 10th ODI century, the Pakistan top order batsmen became the second fastest batsman to reach 3,000 ODI runs in terms of innings.
The 24-year-old went past West Indies’ legendary cricketer Viv Richards. He took 68 innings to reach the milestone, one less than Richards. Hashim Amla remains on the top having breached the 3,000 ODI runs mark in 57 innings.
Azam came to bat in the fourth over as Trent Boult dismissed Fakhar Zaman for 9 runs. Azam formed a 25-run partnership with opener Imam-ul-Haq before the latter was undone by Martin Guptill’s brilliant diving catch in the 11th over.
He steadied the ship with Mohammad Hafeez who threw his wicket away after playing himself in trying to take on part-time off-spinner Kane Williamson. Azam shared a match-winning 126-run partnership with Haris Sohail and bringing the required run rate down in the last 10 overs.
Pakistan have seven points from seven games with a net run rate of -0.976. They need to beat Afghanistan and Bangladesh in order to qualify for the semi-finals.
The 24-year-old went past West Indies’ legendary cricketer Viv Richards. He took 68 innings to reach the milestone, one less than Richards. Hashim Amla remains on the top having breached the 3,000 ODI runs mark in 57 innings.
Azam came to bat in the fourth over as Trent Boult dismissed Fakhar Zaman for 9 runs. Azam formed a 25-run partnership with opener Imam-ul-Haq before the latter was undone by Martin Guptill’s brilliant diving catch in the 11th over.
He steadied the ship with Mohammad Hafeez who threw his wicket away after playing himself in trying to take on part-time off-spinner Kane Williamson. Azam shared a match-winning 126-run partnership with Haris Sohail and bringing the required run rate down in the last 10 overs.
Pakistan have seven points from seven games with a net run rate of -0.976. They need to beat Afghanistan and Bangladesh in order to qualify for the semi-finals.