Brendon McCullum awestruck by Fakhar Zaman's exhibition of stroke-play

Zaman's knock was carved with 24 boundaries and five humungous hits into the stand.

Published - 20 Jul 2018, 17:57 IST | Updated - 20 Jul 2018, 17:57 IST

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Fakhar Zaman made his ODI debut during the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. He got his career underway with some swashbuckling performances, but his first major knock came against India. In the final of the event when the left-hander notched his maiden century in international cricket. He is currently playing in Pakistan’s five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

The North-West Frontier Province-born cricketer is presently the leading run-scorer in the series with 430 runs from four matches at a titanic average of 430. He has been unstoppable in the series and has been Pakistan’s standout performer in the series. The left-handed batsman scored his second century in the second match at the same venue in Bulawayo.

Fakhar’s masterclass with the willow

The 28-year-old kept getting better as the series progressed. In the fourth ODI, he became the first batsman from the nation to rack up a double ton in ODI cricket. His knock of 210 runs from 156 balls picked the bones out of the hapless Zimbabwean bowlers. He opened the batting and played till the very end to help his team put up a gigantic score of 399/1 in 50 overs.

Imam-ul-Haq turned out to be an appropriate foil for Zaman and scored 113 runs from 122 balls before perishing to Wellington Masakadza. Their partnership also garnered 304 runs in 42 overs, the highest partnership for any wicket for Pakistan in ODI cricket. Zaman’s knock was carved with 24 boundaries and five humungous hits into the stand.

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum also followed Zaman’s batting. The opener played under the former New Zealand cricketer for Lahore Qalandars in this season’s Pakistan Super League and was one of their prolific run-scorers. He took to Twitter and heaped praises on the swashbuckling batsman. He wrote, “@FakharZamanLive What a superb achievement brother”