Twitter Reactions: Babar Azam's record-setting innings helps Pakistan rout New Zealand in 4th ODI
Pakistan climbed to the summit of the ODI rankings for the first time in their history after Babar Azam's century guided them to their fourth successive victory against the Kiwis.
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Tom Latham's New Zealand cannot catch a break in the ongoing ODI series against Pakistan as they lost their fourth match on the trot against the home side in the penultimate match of the series. New Zealand had no answer to Pakistan's belligerence with the bat, led by Babar Azam's swashbuckling century.
The victory was set up by the Pakistani batters in the first innings, despite losing an in-form Fakhar Zaman in the seventh over of the match. Pakistani skipper Babar Azam, who has made it a habit of rescuing his side in perilous situations, rose to the occasion yet again.
Babar came into the contest on the back of two successive half-centuries, but this time, he capitalized on his start to register his 18th century in the format, the second most by a Pakistani batter. During his innings, he also became the fastest batter to 5000 ODI runs, eclipsing the previous record held by Hashim Amla.
While Babar's century was the highlight of the innings, he received valiant support from Shan Masood and Agha Salman with the latter registering a brisk half-century. Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Haris's breathtaking cameos were the icings on the cake for the home side as they ended with a massive total of 334 runs in their 20 overs.
Tom Latham's fighting half-century goes in vain
Chasing a first victory in the five-match ODI series, the Kiwis lost both their openers in consecutive overs in the powerplay. The hosts were all over the Blackcaps, but visiting skipper Tom Latham stitched a fighting stand for the third wicket with Daryl Mitchell to steady the ship for the Kiwis.
Despite Mitchell's departure, Latham continued to keep the scoreboard ticking, receiving valiant support from Mark Chapman, who played a brisk innings of 46 runs. However, New Zealand's hopes of a victory were dashed in the space of three overs after Latham and Chapman departed in quick succession.
It was a meek surrender from New Zealand's lower-middle order as they fell well short of the target, losing the match by a comprehensive margin of 102 runs after Usama Mir and Mohammad Wasim Jr shared seven wickets between them to break the back of the Kiwi chase.
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