Fakhar Zaman celebrates after scoring a double ton in Zimbabwe
After establishing a record 304-run partnership stand for the opening wicket with Imam-ul-Haq, opener Fakhar Zaman became the first Pakistan batsman and sixth overall to score a double century in ODI cricket. Scoring an unbeaten knock of 210 runs, Zaman propelled Pakistan to 399/1 in their allotted 50 overs of the fourth ODI at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, on Friday.
Zaman smashed 24 boundaries and five sixes in his entertaining 156-ball knock. Opener Imam-ul-Haq also contributed with 113 runs off 122 balls, while Asif Ali scored a quick fifty, with the help of five boundaries and three sixes.
It was India's Sachin Tendulkar, who scored the first ever double ton in ODI cricket in Gwalior in 2010. Former India opener Virender Sehwag became the second batsman to archive the same feat during an ODI match in Indore in 2011.
Team India vice-captain Rohit Sharma, however, remains to be the only batsman to score a double century thrice in his career.
Besides the three Indian batsmen, New Zealand's Martin Guptill and Chris Gayle of West Indies have also scored a double hundred in ODIs.
Earlier, Zaman and Imam scripted history when they established a 304-run partnership stand for the opening-wicket and surpassed the previous highest partnership total of 286 runs, established by Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya in Leeds on July 1, 2006. (Read full story)
