Watch: Babar Azam hit a beautiful straight drive for a four against New Zealand in the fourth ODI today (May 5) en route to his 27th fifty in the format, converting it later into his 18th ODI hundred.

Babar became the quickest batter to reach the milestone of 5,000 ODI runs during the course of today’s match, reaching the feat in his 97th innings – the first player to do so in under 100 innings. He surpassed Hashim Amla, who took 101 innings to reach 5,000 runs in the format.

The Pakistan skipper, who walked out to bat in the seventh over of the innings after the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman, steadied the ship with Shan Masood, playing some exquisite shots along the way. The highlight was a shot off James Neesham on the first ball of the 27th over when he leaned into the fuller ball to hit it down the ground for a four. “Beautiful,” exclaimed the commentator. “Driven, beautifully down the ground. Oh!”

Babar reached his fifty in 58 deliveries, and his century off 113 with Pakistan reaching 334-6 after 50 overs. He was finally dismissed for 107 at the end of the 48th over having holed-out to deep midwicket.

Watch Babar’s straight drive here:

Timing 👌

Sublime straight drive from @babarazam258 🙌#PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/jenRJHe2AG

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 5, 2023