Babar Azam Ends Century Drought, Smashes 102-run Knock To Help Pakistan Take 2-0 Unassailable Lead Against Sri Lanka

Babar Azam Century, Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI: Babar Azam smashed a remarkable century, ending the long wait for the milestone as he helped Pakistan defeat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the second ODI match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday. Pakistan have sealed the three-match ODI series as they go 2-0 up on the back of this outstanding performance.

Babar brought up his 20th ODI century in the challenging run chase before sealing the victory with a single off Asitha Fernando in the 49th over. He remained unbeaten on 102 runs in 119 balls, having smashed eight boundaries. He now stands at the top of the list of most centuries scored for Pakistan in ODI history, matching Saeed Anwar's tally. This was Babar's first century in international cricket after 83 innings (after 33 innings in ODIs); the last came against Nepal in the 2023 ODI Asia Cup.

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Most 100s for Pakistan in ODIs

20 - Babar Azam*

20 - Saeed Anwar

15 - Mohammad Yousuf

11 - Mohammad Hafeez

11 - Fakhar Zaman

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Babar got excellent support from Mohammad Rizwan, who also brought up his fifty. He remained unbeaten on 51 runs, which he scored in 54 balls with the help of five fours and a six. The duo stitched a match-winning partnership of 112 runs for the third wicket.

"I wanted to believe in myself and my hard work. I was getting off to good starts, but I wasn't able to live up to the expectations. I was getting out at the wrong times. I was just trying my best. It's an honour to get past all the records of all legends," Babar said after being adjudged as the Player of the Match.

This is the fourth successive bilateral ODI series win for Pakistan against Sri Lanka and their third consecutive series win on home soil. Babar went past Mohammad Yousuf (7) to become the player with the most centuries for Pakistan on home soil with his eighth hundred. On the other hand, Sri Lanka lost their first series after winning three consecutive bilateral ODI series. Interestingly, this was Sri Lanka's 9th away series loss out of the last ten ODI bilateral series; their only away series win came against Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Apart from Babar and Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman also made a huge impact in setting the tone for Pakistan's run chase as he played a magnificent knock of 78 runs in 93 balls on the back of eight fours and a six.

Earlier, Sri Lanka posted a big total of 288/8 in their 50 overs after being put into bat first, with Janith Liyanage (54) hitting a promising fifty. Wanindu Hasaranga (44) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) also made promising contributions.