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Pakistan triumphed in a high-scoring fixture against West Indies, with skipper Babar Azam scoring yet another century to guide his team over a massive target of 305 in their first match of the series. After Shai Hope's brilliant century guided the Windies to a competitive score, Azam continued his rich vein of form in international cricket with his century setting up Pakistan's victory.
The hosts reached the required total of 306 runs with four balls to spare in Multan. Babar's knock of 103 off 107 balls was supported by Imam-ul-Haq's 65 and Mohammad Rizwan's 59 runs. Even Khushdil Shah scored a brilliant 41 off just 23 balls, striking at a rate of 178.26 as Pakistan beat their opponents by five wickets.
Following his innings against West Indies, Azam has now scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs since taking over the role of skipper. He has reached this feat in just 13 innings, beating former India captain Virat Kohli's record of 17 innings. Azam needed 98 runs before the match and went on to complete the feat in style.
This was also Azam's third consecutive century in ODIs, having scored 114 and 105* against Australia in Lahore which set up a big series win for the team earlier this year. After his century against West Indies, Azam is also now the first batter in the history of ODI cricket to score three consecutive centuries in the format twice over.
The first time that the top-order batter achieved this feat early in his career was when he had slammed three consecutive tons against the same opponents during a series in 2016 in the UAE.
Azam is currently the top-ranked batter in ICC's rankings in ODIs and T20Is and the fourth in Tests.
Pakistan and West Indies will now face off in the second ODI match between the two teams at Multan on Friday, May 10.
