Babar Azam creates history, Pakistan captain becomes 1st batter to score 3 successive ODI tons twice

On Wednesday (June 08), Pakistan captain Babar Azam continued to be among runs as the Men in Green locked horns with Nicholas Pooran’s West Indies in the series opener of the three ODIs, in Multan. Chasing 306, Babar-led hosts went past the finish line courtesy of their captain who scripted a brilliant record with his century against the Windies.

Scoring his 17th ton in the shortest format, Babar scripted history as he became the first batter to score three consecutive hundreds on two separate occasions in ODIs. For the unversed, his earlier three consectuive centuries had come against West Indies in 2016, when he made 120, 123, and 117.

In addition, the 27-year-old Babar surpassed the long-standing record of Virat Kohli, former Indian skipper, to become the quickest to score 1,000 runs as an ODI captain. He got to the milestone in his 13th innings; four innings less than Kohli (who achieved the same in 17 outings).

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Talking about the first ODI, Pooran-led Windies opted to bat first and rode on Shai Hope’s 127, along with fifty from Shamarh Brooks (70) and vital knocks from Romario Shepherd and Rovman Powell, to post 305-8 as Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi claimed four and two scalps, respectively. In reply, Pakistan chased down the total with five wickets, and four balls, to spare. Apart from Babar, Md Rizwan scored a fifty whereas Khushdil Shah’s entertaining 23-ball 41* ensured no further hiccups for the hosts in the final few overs. 

At the post-match presentation, Babar said, “I always try to continue my game and work on my strengths. There was a little bit of a problem during the calling when I was batting with Imam. But it got better as the partnership moved on. The wicket was a little double-paced and wasn’t that easy. There was heat but that is not an excuse. Credit to the bowlers. Shadab came back and did well. The standards he sets on the field is brilliant as well. Cricket is changing. We have to plan and play with a lot of intensity. Outstanding finish from Khushdil. You have to take it deep so that there is less pressure on the finishers.”