On Friday (February 14), Pakistan's Babar Azam became the joint-fastest player to reach to 6,000 ODI runs, equalling the record of a former South Africa opener.
Pakistan and New Zealand faced off in the final of the ODI tri-series at the National Stadium in Karachi, as home captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and chose to bat first.
Babar, batting at the top of the order alongside Fakhar Zaman, made a sedate start. In the seventh over of the innings, he pounced on an overpitched delivery from Jacob Duffy, driving it through the covers to move past 6,000 runs in ODI cricket. He missed out on reaching the mark in his last innings against South Africa, which would have made him the outright fastest to the landmark.
Match Final, New Zealand vs Pakistan
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Instead, he is now the joint-fastest to 6,000 ODI runs, taking just 123 innings to reach the marker. Former South Africa opener Hashim Amla also got there in 123 innings, completing the achievement against India at the Wankhede Stadium in October 2015.
Babar and Amla both also reached the mark in their 126th ODI match. Virat Kohli, the third-fastest to the mark by innings, is the quickest to 6,000 ODI runs in terms of time taken from debut – he did so in 6 years and 83 days, in November 2014 against Sri Lanka.
Fastest players to 6000 ODI runs, full list
| Player | Team | Innings Taken |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 123 |
| Hashim Amla | South Africa | 123 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 136 |
| Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 139 |
| David Warner | Australia | 139 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 140 |
| Viv Richards | West Indies | 141 |
| Joe Root | England | 141 |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 142 |
| Sourav Ganguly | India | 147 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 147 |
| Matthew Hayden | Australia | 154 |
| Brian Lara | West Indies | 155 |
| Dean Jones | Australia | 157 |
| Martin Guptill | New Zealand | 157 |
| Gary Kirsten | South Africa | 160 |
-The corresponding record in women's ODIs is held by Mithali Raj, who took 164 innings. She is the only woman to score over 6000 ODI runs.
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