Fakhar Zaman slams fastest World Cup hundred by Pakistan batter
Dashing opener Fakhar Zaman slammed the fastest century by a Pakistan batter in ICC Cricket World Cups. He accomplished the milestone against New Zealand in match number 35 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Bengaluru. His unbeaten 81-ball 126 meant Pakistan claimed a 21-run triumph (DLS method) in a must-win game. This was his maiden ton in ODI WCs.
A fiery knock from Zaman
Chasing 402, Pakistan lost Abdullah Shafique (4) cheaply. However, Zaman showcased remarkable character with his high-class batting. After assessing the conditions, he went after the bowlers and made great utilization of the powerplay overs. He recorded a 194*-run stand with skipper Babar Azam and during the course, the southpaw touched the three-figure mark. Pakistan were 200/1 in 25.3 overs when rain stopped the play.
Fastest World Cup century for Pakistan
Notably, Zaman completed his century off just 63 balls. This is now the fastest World Cup ton by a Pakistan batter. Meanwhile, the southpaw hammered 11 maximums en route to his 126*. No other Pakistan batter has smoked more sixes in an ODI WC match. The left-handed batter went past Imran Nazir, who hammered eight sixes against Zimbabwe in the 2007 event.
A look at Zaman's stats
This was Zaman's second successive 50-plus score at the event as he hammered a 74-ball 81 in his preceding outing against Bangladesh. The dasher has now raced to 3,491 runs in 81 ODIs at an average of 47.17. Besides 11 tons, he has slammed 16 half-centuries in this format. He has completed 405 ODI World Cup runs at 40.50.
Pakistan's joint-highest WC stand
As mentioned, Babar and Fakhar registered an unbeaten 194-run stand for the second wicket. As per ESPNcricinfo, this is Pakistan's joint-highest stand in WC history. In the 1999 event, Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti also added as many runs against none other than New Zealand.
