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Babar Azam’s maiden ton sets up big Pakistan win
- Updated: September 30, 2016
Pakistan 284 for 9 in 49 overs (Azam 120, Sharjeel 54, Carlos Brathwaite 3-54) beat West Indies 175 (Samuels 46, Nawaz 4-42) by 111 runs (D/L method)Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
There is an air of serenity around Babar Azam. He is technically correct in defence and drives with the head over the ball. He was among those to receive glowing appraisals from coach Mickey Arthur after the disastrous tour of England. The 21-year-old Azam only enhanced his reputation in Sharjah with his maiden ODI hundred on Friday.
His effort, sandwiched between Sharjeel Khan’s half-century, and late blows from the lower order, led Pakistan to 284 for 9 in a match reduced to 49-overs-a-side because of a floodlight failure. Chasing 287, courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis revisions, West Indies sleepwalked their way, much like they had done in the T20Is, to 175 and suffered another demoralising defeat.
Azam walked in to bat after the first ball of the match, a Shannon Gabriel beauty that had Azhar Ali nicking behind for a duck. It took a stunning catch from Kieron Pollard at the edge of the wide long-on boundary to ultimately dismiss Azam in the 43rd over for 120 off 131 balls. In between, there was a display of sparkling strokes coupled with risk-free cricket and a stroke of luck – he survived a close lbw appeal off Sulieman Benn early in his innings. He lugged 70 of his runs through ones and twos: excellent running in humid conditions.
Azam first added 82 for the second wicket with Sharjeel, and then 99 for the fourth with Sarfraz Ahmed. Wary of the seam movement generated by Jason Holder and Gabriel, Azam played copy book cricket more often than not. It wasn’t until Sharjeel cut loose did Pakistsn start to up the scoring rate – he clattered 44 of Pakistan’s 60 in …
