LAHORE: Pakistan completed their highest successful run chase in one-day internationals when they chased down a mammoth target of 349 to beat Australia by six wickets in Lahore to level the series at 1-1 on Thursday.
Centuries from skipper Babar Azam (114) and opener Imam-ul-Haq (106) allowed the hosts to reach the total on a pitch that aided batting. Here’s a look at the records broken during the second one-day international (ODI) of the three-match series.
Highest successful run chase
Pakistan cricket team achieved its highest successful chase in ODIs. Before this, Pakistan had successfully chased the target of 327 against Bangladesh at Mirpur in 2014.
Surprisingly, this is only the seventh win for Pakistan while chasing a target of 300 or more. This was the 54th time when the Pakistan team was set a target of 300 or more runs in ODIs.
349-4 vs. Australia, 2022
329-7 vs. Bangladesh, 2014
322-6 vs. India, 2007
319-7 vs. India, 2005
311-7 vs. India, 2006
309-2 vs. India, 2008
304-6 vs. England, 2016
300-6 vs. Sri Lanka, 1998
Babar Azam’s record
Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam has become the fastest player to score 15 centuries in one-day internationals. Babar Azam’s 15th century came against Australia where he managed 114 runs off 83 deliveries including 11 boundaries and one maximum.
The marquee batter has reached the milestone in 83 innings, surpassing South African legend Hashim Amla who got to 15 centuries mark in 86 innings. Babar average a century in his ODI career every 5.5 innings, which is a remarkable return.
List of players who are the quickest to 15 ODI centuries:
Babar Azam – 83
Hashim Amla – 86
Virat Kohli – 106
David Warner – 108
Shikhar Dhawan – 108
In addition to this, Babar has now scored four centuries (three came while chasing) as a captain. He has surpassed Azhar Ali’s tally of three centuries as a skipper.
Moreover, Babar Azam registered another record as he scored 114 runs, leaving cricketer-turned-politician Prime Minister Imran Khan behind.
Pakistan skipper played a crucial inning as he smashed a blistering hundred. During the process, Babar has overtaken Imran Khan’s record of most runs scored as a captain against the Aussies.
Imran Khan played an 82-run inning against Australia back in 1990, which means that Babar has broken the record after almost 32 years. Babar’s phenomenal innings included 11 boundaries and one maximum. Babar, who has often been criticized for scoring at a slower pace, played with a strike rate of 137.34.
Here are the highest individual scores by a Pakistani captain against Australia:
Babar Azam – 114 (2022)
Imran Khan – 82 (1990)
Javed Miandad – 74* (1987)
Imam-ul-Haq’s record
Pakistan’s opening batter Imam ul Haq also entered the record books when he become the quickest batsman in the world to reach the ninth ODI hundred in his career.
Imam smashed a century during the second ODI against Australia in Lahore, his 2nd consecutive in the series, to surpass South Africa’s Hashim Amla in the list of taking the fewest innings to score the ninth ODI hundred.
The 26-year-old opening batter reached this milestone in the 48th inning of his ODI career. Hashim Amla had scored his ninth century in 52 innings, Quinton de Kock took 53 and Babar Azam took 61 innings to score their century in ODIs.
The left-handed batter has also surpassed legend Zaheer Abbas for scoring the most aggregate runs in ODIs after playing the first 48 innings of his career.
During his three-figure innings at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, Imam surpassed Zaheer Abbas’ record of 2,166 runs in 48 innings. Imam has over 2,200 runs now.
