Watch: Babar Azam brought up his 19th ODI century and became the fastest batter to the landmark in the Asia Cup 2023 opener against Nepal on August 30 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

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Batting first after winning the toss in the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup, Pakistan got off to a poor start, losing both openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq inside seven overs.

Babar, playing his 104th ODI, stabilised the Pakistan innings with Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 44 off 50 balls, but Rizwan and Salman Agha fell in quick succession. At 124-4, Babar was joined by Iftikhar Ahmed.

The Pakistan captain reached fifty off 72 balls in the 28th over before switching gears. His next fifty runs came off 37 balls as he completed his hundred in the 42nd over, cutting Diepndra Airee‘s short ball to point for two.

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In the process, he became the fastest batter in the history of ODI to 19 centuries in terms of innings. He has played 102 innings, two fewer than Hashim Amla’s record of 104.

This was also Babar’s third consecutive 50-plus score in ODIs: he had scored a half-century in each of the last two ODIs against Afghanistan.

Upon reaching his century, Babar pressed down hard on the accelerator. His next 22 balls fetched 51 runs and he was finally dismissed in the last over of the innings, having scored 151 off 131 balls, the second-highest individual score by a batter in the history of the men’s Asia Cup.

Pakistan eventually finished on 342-6. At the time of writing, Nepal were 27-3 in 5.1 overs.

Watch Babar Azam reach a record-breaking 19th ODI hundred in the first match of the 2023 Asia Cup:

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NepalPakistan Babar AzamAsia CupAsia CupMatch CoverageSeries Editorial