PAK vs NEP: Babar Azam Surpasses Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly To Create Historic Asia Cup Record
New Delhi: Pakistan captain Babar Azam shattered a bunch of records in his outing against Nepal in the opening fixture of Asia Cup 2023. He played a fabulous knock of 151 runs off just 131 balls and helped his team post a massive score of 342/6 on the scoreboard at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan, on Wednesday.
The skipper of the host team also became the fastest batter to register 19 ODI Centuries as he reached this milestone in just 102 innings and surpassed the likes of Hashim Amla, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and David Warner. Babar also surpassed two former Indian captains Virat Kohli and Babar Azam to create an historic Asia Cup record.
His 151 runs knock against Nepal became the highest individual score by a captain in the Asia Cup. He overtook Virat Kohli who was earlier on top with 136 runs knock against Bangladesh in the 2014 edition of this continental tournament. Sourav Ganguly’s unbeaten 135 against BAN back in 2000 held that record before Kohli surpassed him.
Babar Azam’s Ton Help PAK Post 342/6
Captain Babar Azam stood tall to slam a mammoth 151 off 131 balls and was well supported by middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed hitting 109 not out off 71 balls to lift Pakistan to a gigantic 342-6 against Nepal in the opening match of Asia Cup here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Electing to bat first on a dry pitch, Pakistan lost their openers early and had suffered a middle-overs slump. But Babar and Iftikhar shared a sensational 214-run partnership for the fifth wicket, the highest-ever for Pakistan at this position in the ODIs, to set up a very daunting chase for Nepal.
Once Babar went past his 19th ODI hundred coming in just 67 balls, Iftikhar began to change gears for playing a counter-attacking innings, thus changing the complexion of the match. The duo then accelerated in stunning fashion by taking on Nepal’s bowlers to amass a whopping 129 runs in the last ten overs of Pakistan’s innings.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 342-6 in 50 overs (Babar Azam 151, Iftikhar Ahmed 109 not out; Sompal Kami 2-85, Karan KC 1-54) against Nepal