Nepal began well in their maiden appearance at the Asia Cup, taking out Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq to reduce Pakistan to 25-2 at the Multan Cricket Ground.

Babar Azam added 86 with Mohammad Rizwan, but two more wickets in quick succession left Pakistan at 124-4. That was when Iftikhar Ahmed joined his captain.

Babar was the next to go – but not before he made 151 in 131 balls, his second-highest ODI score, behind only the 158 against England at Edgbaston in 2021.

En route, he became the quickest to 19 ODI hundreds – in 102 innings. He broke Hashim Amla’s previous record of 104 innings.

At the ODI Asia Cup, this is now the highest score for Pakistan (he went past Younis Khan’s 144 against Hong Kong at the SSC in 2004), and the second-highest from any side, bettered by only Virat Kohli’s 183 against Pakistan at Mirpur in 2012.

This is also the highest ODI score by anyone against Nepal: Babar eclipsed Michael van Lingen’s 133 at Kirtipur from earlier this year.

Iftikhar, meanwhile, blasted his way to a 71-ball 109 not out, his maiden international hundred. This was the eighth instance of two batters scoring hundreds in the same innings at the Asia Cup – but the first where one of them got a 150.

Babar and Iftikhar added 214, the third-highest partnership for any wicket in Asia Cup history. The first two instances are also by Pakistan: openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed had added 224 against India at Mirpur in 2012, while Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik had put on 223 for the third wicket against Hong Kong at the SSC in 2004.

Babar and Iftikhar scored at 9.80 an over. No other pair has put on more runs at a greater pace in the history of ODI cricket. With a 200-run cut-off, only Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan (204 at 10.03 for the fourth wicket against the West Indies at St George’s in 2019) have scored quicker.

Pakistan finished with 342-6, the fifth-highest total in Asia Cup history. Pakistan’s own 385-7 against Bangladesh at Dambulla in 2010 remains the record.