Babar Azam’s 18th century made the difference as Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 102 runs on Friday to claim the No.1 ranking in ODIs.
Babar’s 107 off 117 balls propped up Pakistan’s 334/6, and New Zealand stumbled to 232 all out, its lowest total of the series. Pakistan now lead the five-match series 4-0.
“Credit goes to the entire team and support staff for becoming the No. 1 ranked ODI team,” Babar said. “We felt it was a 300-plus wicket and if you build a partnership you can get to that total. We wanted to give a proper run to every player and since there are big events coming up, we are happy to find 15-16 players.”
“Everybody put in the effort and stuck together in difficult times. I think my journey has been good, I joined the camp on this very day nine years ago, and there have been ups and down, but the support from my family, PCB and above all my teammates has been amazing....”
Babar said he wished to lead Pakistan to World Cup glory. “Being the captain of a World Cup-winning side would be sweet,” Babar said.
Babar and Agha Salman revived Pakistan from 128/3 in the 25th over with a 117-run stand. Their charge allowed Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Haris to smash 38 off the last two overs and put up an imposing total.
“When we started our innings, the wicket played well, I and Shan (Masood) planned to build the innings. We felt it was 300-plus wicket but we lost a few wickets in the middle phase and then had to regroup,” Babar said.
“However, the way Shaheen batted, we got more runs than we expected. We planned that we will test our bench strength in this series and play with different combinations.”
New Zealand captain Tom Latham praised Pakistan’s performance. “Credit to the way they played, Babar played fantastically,” he said.
“We are trying to build partnerships and needed someone to bat through, but a big partnership was missing.”
Pacer Matt Henry admitted that Pakistan outplayed his team.
“They are obviously No.1 in the world at the moment and playing in their home conditions. They’ve been able to really adapt to these conditions and put the squeeze on key moments.”
Brief scores: Pak 334/6 (Babar Azam 107, Agha Salman 58). NZ 232 in 43.4 (Tom Latham 60; Usama Mir 4/43). Pak won by 102 runs.
Written with inputs from AP/PTI, Reuters
