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Pakistan batter Babar Azam finally ended his 807-day-long century drought in international cricket as he brought up his 20th ODI century in the second match of the series against the touring Sri Lankan side at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
With this century, Babar Azam also matched former Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar's record for the most ODI centuries by a Pakistani player. The former Pakistan captain played a match-winning innings, remaining unbeaten on 102 off 119 balls while chasing a target of 289, helping his team win by eight wickets. Babar now stands level with Saeed Anwar for most centuries in ODIs by a Pakistan cricketer. Anwar, who has 8824 runs and 20 tons, played 247 ODIs for Pakistan. Babar, on the other hand, has only played 139 matches and has scored 6467 runs. Babar, who made his Pakistan debut in 2015, has 9 Test, 20 ODI and 3 T20I centuries. This marked Babar's first century in 84 international innings, his previous hundred having come against Nepal on 30 August back in the Asia Cup 2023. Since then, he had crossed fifty on 20 occasions, but was unable to convert it into a three-figure mark. With the win, Pakistan also secured the three-match series, leading 2-0. Coming to the match, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. While Sri Lanka openers Pathum Nissanka (24) and Kamil Mishara (27) batted well to provide the team with a fifty-run stand at the top, both lost their wickets in quick succession. Kusal Mendis (20) followed soon, but Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) stabilised the innings for Sri Lanka. Captain Charith Asalanka (6) could not contribute much with the bat, but valuable contributions from Janith Liyanage (54), Kamindu Mendis (44) and Wanindu Hasaranga (37) helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 288/8 in their 50 overs. Chasing 289, Pakistan got a strong start from their openers Fakhar Zaman (78) and Saim Ayub (33). Babar entered the crease following Ayub's wicket, with Pakistan at 77-1. He reached his half-century off 68 balls and built a crucial 100-run partnership with Fakhar. He later joined hands with Mohammad Rizwan (51) to add an unbeaten 112 runs for the third wicket, bringing up his century off 115 deliveries and helping Pakistan comfortably chase the target in 48.2 overs. (ANI)
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