Imam becomes quickest batsman to reach ninth ODI hundred

Pakistan’s opening batter Imamul Haq Thursday entered the record books when he became the quickest batsman in the world to reach the ninth ODI hundred in his career.

Imam smashed a century during the second ODI against Australia in Lahore, his 2nd consecutive in the series, to surpass South Africa’s Hashim Amla in the list of taking the fewest innings to score the ninth ODI hundred.

Imam score 106 runs before being caught by Marnus Labuschagne off Adam Zampa.

The 26-year-old opening batter reached this milestone in the 48th inning of his ODI career. Hashim Amla had scored his ninth century in 52 innings, Quinton de Kock took 53 and Babar Azam took 61 innings to score their century in ODIs.

The left-handed batter has also surpassed legend Zaheer Abbas for scoring the most aggregate runs in ODIs after playing the first 48 innings of his career. During his three-figure innings at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, Imam surpassed Zaheer Abbas’ record of 2,166 runs in 48 innings. Imam has over 2,200 runs now.

The only cricketer in the world to score more aggregate runs than Imam is South Africa’s Hashim Amla — who had amassed 2,462 runs after batting the first 48 innings in his career.