Babar Azam Ends 807-Day Century Drought with 102 Against Sri Lanka*

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam broke his long 807-day wait for a century by scoring a match-winning 102 not out off 119 balls, including eight fours, in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Friday, 14 November, at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. His innings helped Pakistan chase the target of 289 in 48.2 overs and win the match by eight wickets.

This was Babar’s first century in 84 international innings. His last hundred was against Nepal on 30 August during the Asia Cup 2023. Since then, he had made fifty or more 20 times but couldn’t reach 100.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after scoring his 20th ODI century and thanked the crowd, who kept cheering his name. With this hundred, he also tied with Saeed Anwar for the most ODI centuries by a Pakistan player.

Babar Azam Becomes Third-Fastest to 20 ODI Centuries

Babar needed just 136 innings to reach 20 ODI centuries making him the third-fastest after Hashim Amla (108 innings) and Virat Kohli (133 innings). It was also his eighth century in Pakistan, the most by any Pakistani batter beating Mohammad Yousuf’s seven.

Babar came to bat after a strong 77-run opening stand between Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman in 58 balls. He started carefully, taking time to settle and hit his first boundary after 23 balls. He reached his fifty in 68 balls and shared a 100-run partnership with Fakhar Zaman (78 off 93) for the second wicket.

Later, Babar added an unbeaten 112-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (51 off 54) for the third wicket and completed his century in 115 balls. Thanks to this big partnership, Pakistan secured a 2-0 lead in the three-match series, with the final ODI set for Sunday, 16 November, at the same ground.