Pakistan rode on Babar Azam’s match-winning ton as they kept their World Cup semi-final hopes alive on Wednesday with an impressive six-wicket win against New Zealand.
Man-of-the-match Azam was the star of the show, scoring a measured 101 off 127 balls in front of thousands of fanatical fans in Birmingham as Pakistan surpassed New Zealand’s total of 237 for six in the final over.
Azam, who struck his 10th One-Day International ton and the first at the World Cup, became Pakistan’s leading run-getter in the tournament with 333 runs.
Pakistan were wobbling at 110-3 when Mohammad Hafeez was out for 32 in the 25th over but 24-year-old Azam anchored the innings and was ably supported by Haris Sohail, who hit 68.
During the course of his knock, Babar became the second-fastest to reach 3,000 ODI runs in 68 innings. Babar took 11 innings more than South Africa’s Hashim Amla but overtook West Indies great Viv Richards (69 innings).
Here’s a look at other records he achieved on Wednesday:
(with AFP inputs)
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