Fakhar Zaman overtakes Viv Richards, becomes fastest to 1000 ODI runs.

Fakhar Zaman overtakes Viv Richards, becomes fastest to 1000 ODI runs.

Zimbabwe vs Pakistan, 5th ODI: Fakhar Zaman reached 1000 runs in just his 18th ODI innings (Zimbabwe Cricket Twitter Photo)

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman on Sunday became the fastest batsman in history to complete 1000 runs in ODI cricket during the fifth match against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo.

Zaman needed 20 runs to achieve the feat prior to this match. He got there in style as he smashed his third boundary in the final ball of the sixth over from Tendai Chatara to get to the landmark.

Fakhar Zaman beat the likes of Viv Richards (West Indies), Kevin Pietersen (England), Jonathan Trott (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa) and compatriot Babar Azam to clinch the top spot in the list.

All the above mentioned batting greats reached the milestone in their 21st innings but Fakhar Zaman bettered them all by getting there in his 18th innings.



Fakhar was eventually dismissed for 85 by Liam Roche but not before he amassed 515 runs in the five matches at a staggering average of 257.50 which makes him the only Pakistani batsman to score over 500 runs in an ODI series.

Salman Butt was the previous record holder for his country with 451 runs in the five-ODI series against Bangladesh in 2007.

Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq added 168 runs for the opening wicket which was also their fourth hundred-run partnership. This is the first time a batting pair has managed to achieve the feat in a single series.

Just a couple of days back Fakhar Zaman had created another record as he became the first batsman from Pakistan to smash 200 runs in an innings in the previous game at the Queens Sports Club.

Zaman, 28, smashed 24 boundaries and five sixes en route his 156-ball unbeaten 210 as Pakistan finished with 399/1 from their 50 overs and then bowled out the hosts for a paltry 155 to win the match by 244 runs. The visitors already have the series in the bag with a 4-0 lead in the five ODIs.

"Thanks to almighty. Imam played really well in the start and he supported me well. I think today was my day. I knew about Saeed's record. Mickey (Arthur) told us before toss that if we win the toss we are going to bat and he asked me to score a double ton. He was telling me the same thing two days before as well," said Fakhar.

Fakhar became the sixth batsman overall after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle and Martin Guptill to score a double hundred in ODIs. The record for the highest individual score was earlier held by Saeed Anwar, who had made 194 against India back in 1997.

With the double ton, Fakhar has already scored two centuries and a half-century with a match remaining on Sunday in the five-match series so far. On the other hand, his opening partner Imam-ul-Haq also scored his second century of the series.

Zaman and Imam notched another record-breaking partnership of 304 runs for the first wicket before Imam fell to Hamilton Masakadza. The triple century partnership was the highest ever for the opening wicket in the history of ODIs, and the fourth biggest ever for any wicket.

Read more on https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/fakhar-zaman-viv-richards-fastest-1000-odi-runs-pakistan-zimbabwe-1292643-2018-07-22

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