PAK vs NZ: Babar Azam's Pakistan put on a clinical show in their fourth ODI of the five-match series against New Zealand with a thumping win in Karachi. The Men in Green outclassed the Kiwis by 102 runs and raced to the World No.1 ODI spot for the first time, since the ICC officially recognised the rankings in January 2005. Pakistan have now won all four matches of the ongoing series and eye a complete whitewash at home.
Pakistan were on fifth spot in the ODI rankings before the series commenced on April 27, while New Zealand were on second. They made strides with their first two wins and came within touching distance of the top spot after their third ODI win. Babar Azam's men were at 3rd spot after the 3rd ODI and had 112 rating points, behind Australia (113.286) and India (112.638). Meanwhile, the fourth win has taken them to 113.483 and awarded them to the pinnacle spot.
After the win, Babar Azam credited the team and the support staff for the achievement. “Credit goes to the entire team and support staff for becoming the No.1 ranked ODI team," Azam said.
Babar Azam becomes the fastest to 5000 ODI runs
Meanwhile, Babar Azam also had a memorable outing as he smashed 107 off 117 balls as Pakistan posted 334/6 in the game. His century made him the fastest player in the world to score 5000 runs in ODIs. Azam achieved the feat in 97 innings and has leapfrogged the likes of Hashim Amla (101 innings) and Virat Kohli (114 innings), among others.
Speaking on the win Azam said, "We felt it was a 300-plus wicket and if you build a partnership you can get to that total. We wanted to give a proper run to every player and since there are big events coming up, we are happy to find 15-16 players."
