CAPE TOWN: Pakistan ace Babar Azam surpassed legendary Indian wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni with his drought-ending half-century in the second ODI against South Africa here at Newlands on Thursday.
Babar, who had not scored an ODI century in half a century since November 2023, ended the drought by scoring a match-winning 73 off 95 balls as Pakistan’s 81-run victory over South Africa gave the visitors an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series.
With his 33rd half-century in the format, Babar broke MS Dhoni’s record of scoring the most fifty goals against SENA countries – South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.
Before the aforementioned game, the two batsmen were tied on 38 half-centuries, but Babar took the lead with a match-winning effort on Thursday.
Furthermore, the 29-year-old also came closer to breaking South African legend Hashim Amla’s record for fastest with 6,000 ODI runs.
Amla reached the milestone in 123 innings, while Babar, with 5,905 runs in 119 innings, has three innings left to surpass this feat.
Notably, the top-order batsman also holds the record for being the fastest to 5,000 ODI runs, achieving it in just 97 innings.
Fastest to 6000 ODI runs:
- Hashim Amla (South Africa): 123 entries
- Virat Kohli (India): 136 innings
- Kane Williamson (New Zealand): 139 innings
- David Warner (Australia): 139 innings
- Shikhar Dhawan (India): 140 innings
Adding to this, the right-handed batsman is on the verge of equaling Saeed Anwar’s record for most centuries by a Pakistani batsman in ODI cricket.
With 19 ODI centuries to his name, Babar needs just one more to equal Anwar’s tally of 20.
Most ODI centuries for Pakistan:
