Clean sweep: Triple-ton Azam leads series win against WI

ABU DHABI: Rising star Babar Azam hit his third successive hundred to anchor Pakistan’s 3-0 clean-sweep of the West Indies with a comfortable 136-run win in the third and final one-dayer on Wednesday.

Azam smashed a 106-ball 117 while skipper Azah Ali returned to form with a 109-ball 101 as Pakistan compiled 308-6 before restricting West Indies to 172 in 44 overs on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.

It was another imperious show by Pakistan who won the first two matches by 111 and 59 runs respectively – both in Sharjah. The rout also followed Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash in the preceding Twenty20 series.

The two sides will go on to contest a three-match Test series starting in Dubai from October 13.

The 3-0 ODI whitewash also lifted Pakistan to number eight in the one-day rankings, displacing their opponents to nine. Azam, 21, became the eighth batsmen to make three hundreds in successive one-day internationals and he was again sublime in achieving the milestone.

He also set a new record for most runs in a three-match one-day series with 360, beating the previous highest of 342 by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock who set it at home in 2013.

West Indies again lacked aggression and big partnerships in their innings, with Denesh Ramdin top scoring with 37 and Jason Holder making 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2016.