Zaman breaks 38-year-old record

Pakistan opening batsman becomes the fastest to 1000 runs in ODI cricket history

KARACHI: Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has become the fastest player in history of ODI cricket to score 1000 runs.

Zaman secured the record in 18 innings which is three fewer than the previous record-holder Viv Richards. The great West Indies cricketer took 21 innings to score the same amount of runs but his record stood for 38 years.

Zaman needed 20 runs before the start of the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo and it took him just 27 balls to reach the milestone.

The left-handed batsman has been in great form throughout the series as this record comes on the back of his brilliant double-century in the previous match – when he became the first Pakistan batsman to score a double-ton in ODI cricket.

Zaman also broke another record by scoring the most runs ever by a Pakistan batsman in an ODI series. Salman Butt previously held the record by scoring 451 runs against Bangladesh in 2008.

Later on in his innings — when the 28-year-old opener reached 37 runs — he also broke the record for most runs in a five-game bilateral series, going past Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza’s record of 467 runs against Kenya in 2009-10.