Saturday 15 / February / 2025
Karachi : Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam levelled Hashim Amla's world record to become the joint-fastest player to complete 6,000 runs in ODI cricket.
He completed the 6,000-run mark in 123 innings, the same number of innings taken by Amla. In 126 ODIs, Babar has made 6,019 runs at an average of 55.73, a strike rate of 88.13. 19 centuries and 34 fifties have come out of his bat, with the best score of 158.
Babar reached this milestone during the final of the tri-nation series against New Zealand at Karachi.
During the innings after Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first, Babar looked fluent in his 34-ball knock of 29 runs. His knock had four boundaries and a six and runs came at a strike rate of 85.29. But like most of his recent knocks, he could not carry on for long and gifted his wicket to Nathan Smith in a soft dismissal. He has not been able to hit an ODI ton, matter of fact, an international ton since August 2023 when he smashed 151 against Nepal in Asia Cup. In this series, he has not been able to hit a half-century.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to bat against New Zealand in the ODI tri-nation series final.
It will be a rehearsal for both sides before squaring off against each other in the Champions Trophy tournament opener on Wednesday. Winning the tri-nation would certainly lift the morale of the players before fighting for the mega prize from next week.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy, William ORourke.
