Pakistan captain Babar Azam changed the record books on Wednesday with his stunning century against West Indies in the first One-Day International in Multan. As the Men in Green overcame Nicholas Pooran & Co by 5 wickets, he hit 103 off 107 deliveries. It was Babar’s third ODI century in a row. The previous two were against Australia at home during Pakistan’s most recent bilateral series, in which he scored 114 and 105* in the final two games. Babar’s century was his 17th in 87 ODI appearances.
With this achievement, Babar also broke Virat Kohli’s record of becoming the fastest captain to hit 1,000 runs in the format. He reached the milestone in his 13th innings as Pakistan captain, whereas Kohli took 17 innings.
Babar eventually beat former South African captain AB de Villiers (20 innings) and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (23 innings) to achieve the feat. The 27-year-old is now ranked first among batters in the ICC One-Day International rankings.
Shai Hopes’ century was in vain on Wednesday as Pakistan took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series because to outstanding performances from Imam-ul-Haq (65), Babar (103), and Rizwan (59).
For the second wicket, Azam and Imam added 103 runs. Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi then added 108 runs for the 3rd wicket with Rizwan before Khushdil Shah (41 not out off 23 balls) sealed victory with a late cameo as Pakistan did just enough to beat Shai Hope and the West Indies.
Although it was only Khushdil’s fifth ODI, he is quickly establishing himself as a trustworthy closer after excelling in a similar capacity against Australia in March.
Earlier, Hope had struck 127 to assist West Indies reach 305/8 in 50 overs, but Pakistan won the first match of the series with a score of 306.5 in 42.9 overs thanks to Babar and his team.
