Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, has now become the quickest player to reach 5,000 runs in a one-day international game on Friday, helping his side to 334-6 in the fourth game versus New Zealand in Karachi. Following New Zealand won the toss and decided to put the hosts in to bat at National Stadium, the 28-year-old broke Hashim Amla’s milestone for the longest ODI innings with a 117-ball 107 to reach his 18th ODI century.
Azam exceeded Amla’s accomplishment of achieving the mark in 101 innings from 104 matches when he touched 19 in his 97th innings in 99 one-day internationals. Azam and Shan Masood contributed 50 runs for the second wicket, 127 runs for the fourth wicket with Agha Salman (58), and another 41 runs for the sixth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed scoring 28.
Azam, was ranked as the top hitter by the International Cricket Council for the previous two years, hit 10 boundaries before being bowled by Ben Lister, a rookie, in the 40th over and being caught at deep midwicket. Azam became the 14th player from Pakistan to score 5,000 or additional runs in one-day internationals (ODIs), with former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq leading the way with 11,701 runs.
Another record smashed by Babar Azam 💥 pic.twitter.com/JsMe2tsEXT
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 5, 2023
Azam also broke Amla’s record of 18 hundreds in 102 innings by becoming the player to reach 18 ODI hundreds the fastest. In his 46-ball innings, Salman contributed with two sixes and four boundaries eventually getting caught and bowled by bowler Matt Henry, who ended with figures of 3-65 .
If we talk about the 5-match ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand then the hosts are currently leading the series by 4-0. It is turning out to be a horrific ODI series for the Kiwis who are without some senior players.
The final ODI will be played tomorrow and New Zealand will be playing for pride as they have nothing else to play for.
