Fakhar Zaman, the opening batter for Pakistan, has set five unique records during the second one-day international match against New Zealand.
He was able to smash his third consecutive century. He scored an unbeaten 180 off 144 balls and led his team to a seven-wicket victory.
Fakhar Zaman’s previous centuries were 117 in the first match and 101 against the same opponents in January. The win gave Pakistan a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The remaining matches will be held in Karachi on May 3, 5, and 7.
Zaman attributed his success to his lucky day and his strategy of taking his time at the start before scoring easily with only five players in the circle. Tom Latham couldn’t help but praise Zaman’s outstanding performance and the way he built partnerships to help Pakistan chase down a stiff target.
During the match, Zaman achieved several milestones. He became the fastest Asian batter to score 3,000 runs in ODI history in just 67 innings, surpassing the previous record held by Babar Azam. Babar Zaman took 68 innings. Zaman also became the fastest Asian batter to hit 10 ODI centuries in 67 innings. Again, he broke Babar Azam’s previous record of 68 innings.
Fakhar Zaman is now one of only 12 batters and the fourth Pakistani, after Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas, and Babar Azam (twice), to hit three consecutive ODI tons.
Zaman also holds the distinction of being the only batter in the world with multiple scores of 175-plus in ODI chases. He scored 193 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2021. Moreover, he scored 3,082 runs after 67 innings, the most by an Asian batter in ODI history, surpassing Babar Azam’s previous record of 2,971 runs.
