Asia Cup 2023: Babar Azam breaks Hashim Amla's ODI century record in opener

Multan: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam became the fastest player to reach 19 ODI centuries, scoring 151 off 131 in the Asia Cup opener against Nepal at the Multan Cricket Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Playing his 102nd innings, Babar 28-year notched up his 19th ODI century in the 42nd over, surpassing South Africa's Hashim Amla in the list of players who took the fewest innings to reach the 19th ODI ton.

Babar and Amla are followed by Virat Kohli (124), David Warner (139), A B de Villiers (171) and Rohit Sharma (181 innings) in the list.

After his scintillating 151-run knock, the 28-year-old stands second in the list of Pakistan century-makers in ODI cricket. This was also his 31st international hundred, which equals him to Pakistan legends Javed Miandad and Saeed Anwar.

Babar’s 151 off 131 balls was not only his second-highest ODI score but also the second-highest score by an individual batter in Asia Cup history.

On the match front, riding on Babar's 151 and Iftikhar Ahmed's unbeaten 109, maiden ODI century, Pakistan posted a gigantic total of 342/6.