Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Pakistan captain breaks THIS massive record after third ODI century in a row to lead win over West Indies

Babar Azam hit nine fours in his 17th ODI century and the world’s top-ranked ODI batter also surpassed former India skipper Virat Kohli to become the fastest player to reach 1,000 runs as captain.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam celebrates after scoring a hundred against West Indies in the first ODI. (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan captain Babar Azam became the first batsman to twice score three consecutive centuries in ODIs after his 103 helped Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets on Wednesday (June 8). Captain Babar shared a 103-run partnership with Imam-ul-Haq (65) and a 108-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (59) as Pakistan chased down a target of 306 in Multan to go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series.

The 27-year-old Babar made two centuries against Australia before Wednesday’s match and also racked up three tons in a row in 2016, all against West Indies. Babar hit nine fours in his 17th ODI century and the world’s top-ranked ODI batter also surpassed former India skipper Virat Kohli to become the fastest player to reach 1,000 runs as captain.

Multan, are you not entertained? @babarazam258 churns out another epic ton #PAKvWI | #KhelAbhiBaqiHai pic.twitter.com/Bw5yidGK90 — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 8, 2022

Babar achieved the feat in 13 innings compared with Kohli’s 17. The Pakistan captain hit his 17th ODI century in 86 matches while Kohli has 43 in 260.

Kohli’s ODI average is 58.07 while Babar Azam averages 59.78 currently. Babar Azam has also scored a hat-trick of centuries twice.

Babar Azam in last 5 ODIs:

158 vs England at Birmingham

57 vs Australia at Lahore

114 vs Australia at Lahore

105 not out vs Australia at Lahore

103 vs West Indies at Multan

Khusdil Shah continued his golden T20 form, smashing 23-ball 41 including a hat-trick of sixes against Romario Shephard to take Pakistan home.

Earlier, West Indies opener Shai Hope went on to score his 12th century and bring up 4,000 ODI runs as West Indies look to dominate proceedings of the 1st ODI. Crucial Knocks from Shamarh Brooks powered WI to register a huge score of 305/8. Haris Rauf shined with the ball after picking up a 4-wicket haul.

Brief Scores: West Indies 305/8 (Shai Hope 127, Shamarh Brooks 70; Haris Rauf 4/77) lost to Pakistan 306/5 in 49.2 ovs (Babar Azam 103, Mohammad Rizwan 59, Khushdil Shah 41 n.o.; Alzarri Joseph 2/55)